Invasion
by Irish-Ninja
Summary: This one's all for Collision. SSX is facing one of their largest hurdles yet! What is this challenge? Who is their opponent? Will Irish Ninja stop asking cliche suspense questions? Only way to find out is to read it! Rated Teen for language.
1. Chapter 1: Accident

This story is dedicated to Collision as a thank you for her endless positive support of my stories, and she's the only one that I know for a fact has read all my stuff so is up to date on how I'm mangled the SSX characters.SSX is on the verge of facing their largest challenge to date, can they live up to the task? Continuing my saga of SSX stories, so anyone who hasn't read them will wonder why the characters are so out of character. I know it's a lot of stories to read just for this to make sense, so if you don't wanna read them all it's cool.  
So here we go, hope you all like it, this one's for you Collision.

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I own none of the characters or locations of this story, EA Games Big owns it all.

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Invasion  
Chapter 1: Accident  
Nate slid to a stop in the snow on peak two as his M-Comm beeped loudly at him. He flipped it open and looked at the text screen.  
"Griff is missing!" the text declared, Nate's eyes quickly doubled in size, he scrolled down. "He was last seen on peak two but his clique said he never came down, keep your eyes peeled for him. Emergency services and the snow patrol are on the lookout for him, if anyone sees anything message me ASAP. – Atomika" Nate looked around his immediate position with a slight panic. He wished he knew where Griff could possibly be, but he barely ever spoke to him anymore once more teens joined the circuit. His M-Comm beeped again. He flipped it open.  
"You on your way to peak two? – Psymon"  
"Already there." Nate typed back. A few seconds passed until the M-Comm beeped again.  
"Where are you on peak two?"  
"East side, near the woods, about midway down." Nate didn't like typing back and forth when he could be looking for Griff.  
"I have Griff's boys here with me, I'm going to comb down peak two on the west side, each of his boys are going to scour a sector as well. You keep checking the east end, I'll message you if I see ANYTHING." Nate nodded and typed quickly.  
"Thanks." He put his M-Comm back in his pocket and took off into the woods.

He moved at a steady pace, but not too quickly as his eyes panned all around him.  
"Come on squirt, where are you?" Nate was very worried, again his M-Comm beeped. "For crying out loud!" he shouted as he answered it again.  
"Psymon said you're on the east end of the peak, I'm coming down that side, I'll see you in a bit. – Allegra" Nate nodded and pocketed his M-Comm again. He continued along the ridge of the east side, analyzing the trees and canyons that he passed. Seconds later Allegra came flying down the hill and slowed next to him.  
"Anything?" she asked, slightly winded, Nate shook his head.  
"Nothing." Allegra gave a worried sigh and looked around with anxiety.  
"And I'm going to guess that those idiots don't know where they saw him last?" she asked.  
"I swear to God when I see those kids I'm going to kick every single one of their asses." Nate snorted.  
"Nate, stop it." Allegra spoke firmly. "That's not going to help anything, let's just work on finding him." Nate nodded, though he was still very angry at Griff's friends. Suddenly both their M-Comms rang out, Allegra grabbed hers first.  
"West canyon, three minutes southwest of station two, he's down here. – Psymon" the M-comm read. They finished reading it and pushed off as fast as they could for the west end of the peak. 

Psymon unbuckled his boots from his board. Before he was done a pair of Griff's teen friends arrived. A pair of kids named Jeff and Sam."The others on their way?" Psymon said seriously, the teens nodded. Psymon looked down the canyon at the motionless teen that lay at the bottom. Psymon knelt down and carefully scaled down the ice and snow of the canyon wall, slipping once or twice but managing to keep himself from falling. He climbed down for many feet until he was about fifteen feet to the bottom. He kicked off the ledge and fell into the deep snow. He crawled back up to his feet and waded through the snow to Griff. "Can ya hear me, squirt?" Griff wasn't moving as Psymon approached. Psymon got close enough to see Griff's M-Comm on a nearby rock, smashed. He would examine that later, he had to tend to Griff at the moment. Despite his better judgment, he carefully rolled Griff onto his back and wrapped his sweater around him. "Come on kid, hold on, help's on the way." He looked up to see Nate frantically scaling down the canyon wall. "Careful man! We don't need two injuries." Psymon shouted up, his voice echoing through the canyon. Nate fell into the snow and waded through until he reached them.  
"Is he okay? What happened? Griff talk to me buddy!"  
"He's out man, I don't know what happened. Is the snow patrol on the way?"  
"Yeah, they're getting a chopper ready to airlift him out." Nate took Griff from Psymon's arms and looked up the canyon wall with anxiety. Psymon stood and walked to the rock where Griff's M-Comm lay. He squatted over it and noticed boot prints on it.  
"Dude, his M-comm was smashed, quite deliberately." Psymon looked over his shoulder at Nate, who stared back. "This wasn't an accident, he was attacked." Nate's eyes boiled with rage.  
"Who woulda done this?" Nate snarled, both men looked in the direction of the downward slope, seeing three lines in the snow from snowboards.  
"I don't know, but we're going to find out."

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Well we're wasting no time getting THIS ball rolling, are we? Keep reading.  



	2. Chapter 2: Numbers

I own nothing, EA Games Big owns all characters, locations and a good portion of my paycheque.

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Chapter 2: Numbers  
Psymon pulled into the driveway of his lodge and turned off the car. He had just dropped Nate off at his own lodge after they spent all night in the hospital. Griff was in stable condition but still very shaken up. He sat in his car and thought "who would have done that to a kid?" He drummed his fingers on the dashboard, the hospital would release him the next day, he could ask him then who did this. He got out of his car and entered the lodge.  
"Anyone home?" he called in, only to be answered by silence. He sighed and slowly made his way to Zoe's room and pushed open the door. He turned on the light and looked into the abandoned room. Her bed and many of her possessions still sat in her room; Psymon leaned against the door frame for a few minutes, thinking about all the time spent in this room… laughing, crying, talking… he missed it. He turned off the light and walked to the living room, he looked down at his answering machine to see the display flashing. He pushed the "new" button and crashed down onto his couch.  
"Message one: Hey Psymon it's Kaori, Allegra told me you and Nate were at the hospital all night. You alright? Call me.  
Message two: This is Rahzell everyone. Griff gets out tomorrow, it looks like his current status isn't too hot and he will likely be out for at least half the season."  
"Great." Psymon thought. "All we need is to lose another one." SSX had been hurting over the last two years. With untimely deaths of Luther, JP and Seeiah, a core part of SSX was gone. On top of that Moby had parted ways with SSX more than a year ago to start his own snowboarding league, the X-treme Carving League; and as icing on the cake, Brody and Zoe wed several months back and opted to not return to SSX. All this over the last two years had left SSX a much weaker product than it used to be, and Moby's XCL was starting to give them some decent competition.  
"Message three: Hey handsome, it's me." Zoe's voice said cheerfully. Psymon's ears perked, he smiled slightly from the sound of her voice. "Just calling to see how you're doing, I… just a minute Brody… I guess you're not in, but I'll… alright alright… Brody says 'hi'. I'll call you back later on. I hope you're doing okay, I miss you."  
"I miss you to kiddo." Psymon whispered to the room.  
"Message four: Psymon, it's me again." Zoe sounded less chipper this time. "I guess you're out or something, I'll try you again later… I love you." Psymon raised an eyebrow, she didn't sound quite as happy in the second message as she had in her first. "End of messages." Psymon sighed and thought about Zoe, wondering if she was okay.  
"Of course she's okay, why wouldn't she be?" Psymon chastised himself. "Just 'cuz you're not around doesn't mean her life is miserable, man." He shook his head and turned on the television. Moby's XCL was on. Psymon dropped the controller and watched the program. As much as he was against supporting his competition, he enjoyed some of the action XCL offered. The league was comprised mainly of younger snowboarders and lesser-knowns that had been paying their dues in the indie leagues over the years. He did grow tired of seeing Moby win week in and week out, but he had come to expect that, since he was the former SSX pro, and secondly, he signed their paycheques. He smirked as the first race was starting. One of the younger riders at the end was one that caught Psymon's attention from day one, a kid from British Columbia named Paul Diamond. "Man, if we could sign that kid…" Psymon said as he watched Paul make his competition look foolish. The kid had skill, speed, incredible balance and on top of that he had a look that just made him stand out, he flowed charisma. The next race was getting started and Psymon recognized some familiar faces. Some of the less popular SSX boarders jumped ship with Moby to the XCL in hopes of gaining more notoriety, but most remained mid-carders. He rolled his eyes as Marty and Jurgan lined up at their spots. Marty was a nice guy in Psymon's mind, but just lacked the skill and character to be a star. Jurgan on the other hand had a lot more going for him, natural ability, an intimidating presence and just a natural character that the fans loved to hate. "If we keep losing our numbers, these guys are going to own us." Psymon thought as he turned off the television. 

Rahzell strummed his fingers on his desk impatiently, looking at the numbers from recent SSX and XCL draws.  
"Not good, I'm guessing." Atomika said, looking away from his computer.  
"They get closer to us every week, and now that we've lost Griff they're going to have that much more room to move in." Rahzell smothered his cigarette in an ashtray and leaned forward on his hands. "I'll give Moby this, he picked a damn good time to abandon ship, it's like he almost predicted this would happen."  
"Moby always had a lot of luck." Atomika consoled, Rahzell was not pleased. "Look, we're hurting for name power, Psymon's constantly trying to sell us on this Paul Diamond kid, maybe now we should try to sign him since Griff is out." Rahzell shook his head.  
"If we start taking scraps away from XCL, then the fans will know we're not doing as alright as we let on." Atomika nodded in agreement and went back to his computer. "And I'm going to assume that Zoe and Brody haven't changed their minds yet?"  
"We're, uhhh… we're playing phone tag." Rahzell sighed.  
"So, 'no' then."

Nate paced back and forth, Griff's clique sat quietly on a couch in the chalet, staring up at him, fearing he would snap any second and kill them all."Did you even KNOW he was in trouble?" Nate grumbled, Sam tried his bravery and spoke up.  
"Dude, we were all just carving, he said he wanted to try something and that he would meet us at the bottom."  
"So you let him go alone?"  
"He knows the peaks better than any of us, why not?"  
"And didn't you find it weird that he never came back down?"  
"Well, we really didn't wait for him, we went back to our lodge and played videogames, next thing we knew it was getting late and we heard nothing from him. We M-Commed him but he never replied." Nate rubbed his face.  
"Is there ANYTHING you're forgetting to tell me?"  
"No, sir." Sam squeaked. Nate nodded.  
"Then get out of here, now." The pack of teens didn't hesitate and they all ran out of the chalet. Nate was furious. He and Psymon had followed the trail left by Griff, but it simply led them to a highway where obviously the assailants would have gotten into a car.  
"Nate, relax." Allegra said firmly to the beast that paced frantically. "Griff's alright, we can talk to him when he gets home tomorrow." Nate nodded and tried to relax. Allegra walked to him and gave him a hug, got up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and then went back to hugging him.  
"When I find the guys that did this I'm going to kill them." Nate said in almost a whimper as he spoke into the top of Allegra's head.  
"I know."

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Ya know, this is usually where I throw in some cheesie drama-building suspense, but you guys know the drill, just keep reading.  



	3. Chapter 3: Life gives you lemons…

EA Big owns it all etc etc just read the story.

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Chapter 3: Life gives you lemons…  
"Dude!" Viggo screamed happily as he read the memo from Rahzell's desk. Eddie woke up with a grunt and rubbed his eyes. Viggo poked his head in Eddie's room. "Rahzell is adding a skiing circuit to SSX! Dude I am SO all over this!" Eddie nodded and flopped back down onto his pillow. Viggo was beaming from ear to ear; He was always a much better skier than a snowboarder, and now was his time to shine. Rahzell had addressed in his memo that the addition was to breathe some new life into SSX, as their deteriorating roster was causing ratings to drop quickly. The ski league would bring in a bunch of fresh faces and a whole new kind of action, and Viggo was excited that his ship had finally come in. 

"Skiing?" Elise said with a disgusted tone. Atomika slouched. "What the hell is Rahzell thinking? This is a snowboarding circuit, a circuit where I run the show!" Atomika nodded. "So what's going to happen, they're going to have a top boarder AND skier? So my television time will be getting cut in half?" Atomika couldn't get a word out. "I had BETTER not get a pay cut because of this, if I do then I walk!" Elise slammed down the memo on Atomika's desk and stormed out of the office. Next in line came in and sat at Atomika's desk.  
"Skiing? Allegra questioned with a hint of attitude.

The SSX vets leaned against a steel railing as the buses came in."That them?" Mac asked with a thick bitterness. Nate nodded.  
"Yup." The veteran boarders all stood together as the rookie boarders welcomed the new skiers, the only veteran to be seen in the mass was Viggo… loving every minute of it. Allegra went to Nate and he put his arm around her. They all stared at the skiers with disgust. These intruders were on their turf, and they weren't going to give it up easily. Psymon's cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and flipped it open, still glaring at the skiers.  
"You got him." Psymon greeted.  
"Hey. You are one hard guy to get a hold of." Zoe's voice replied.  
"How are ya?"  
"I'm alright."  
"Ya sure? You sounded kinda down on your second message." Zoe sighed.  
"I guess."  
"Things okay with Brody?"  
"Yeah, things are good."  
"But."  
"But… ugh he's just TOO mellow you know? I mean that was cool when we were dating, but I swear there are times he's so 'at peace' that I think he's going into a coma." Psymon nodded to himself.  
"Are you okay?" he asked sincerely.  
"Yeah, I just need someone to vent to." Zoe sighed.  
"Welcome to married life." Zoe was silent for a few seconds on the other end.  
"That's not funny."  
"Then why am I grinning?" Now Zoe chuckled.  
"You're an asshole, you know that?"  
"Guilty as charged." Zoe sighed again. "So ya sure you're alright?"  
"Yeah I'm alright. So what's this I hear that SSX has started a skiing division?"  
"Yup, actually I'm currently glaring hatefully at them as we speak." Zoe now laughed.  
"Getting off to a good start are we?" Psymon smiled, he loved hearing Zoe's voice again.  
"I don't know. Look I should get back to hating with the others, call me later?"  
"Of course." Psymon hung up and pocketed his phone. Moments later a silver Buick pulled onto the property and made it's way to Griff's lodge.  
"Looks like the kid's back." Nate said with a tone of excitement. They all ran to the car as the teen hobbled out with a pair of crutches. Everyone gave Griff a round of hugs and walked with him into his lodge. Griff was still very banged up, his leg was broken, his head was bandaged in a few places that still was wounded and he wore a soft brace on his left arm. He was led to a couch and laid down, he looked exhausted. Nate pushed his way forward.  
"Who?" Nate said seriously. Griff sighed.  
"I don't know, it happened real fast." Nate eased back.  
"Just tell us what you remember." Psymon said, kneeling next to Nate.  
"Well, I was just checking out a new path through the woods, and it led me to the gorge." Everyone listened closely. "I stopped and was looking down the canyon, then I was grabbed. Next thing I knew I was on my stomach in the snow getting booted. I reached for my M-Comm to call for help but it was kicked out of my hand."  
"Did you see how many there were?" Nate asked, Griff shrugged.  
"At the top there was just the one guy."  
"What did he look like?" Nate prodded, Griff paused.  
"He was really big, shaved head, pretty heavily tattooed. He had a skull and crossbones tattooed on his neck." Psymon raised an eyebrow.  
"Really?" Nate and Griff looked at him. Psymon stood up. "Elise, who do we know who has a tattoo like that and happens to fit that description?" Elise nodded.  
"Jurgan." Psymon nodded back.  
"Who the hell's Jurgan?" Viggo asked.  
"Jurgan was more or less the original bad boy of SSX." Elise started, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall. "But when they announced that SSX would be holding semi-annual drug tests, everyone cleaned up fast, except Jurgan. He figured they were bluffing, they weren't, and he was booted out by the end of the first season."  
"And now he rides for Moby's XCL." Psymon finished. Attention was turned back to Griff.  
"Do you remember what the other guys in the canyon looked like?" Nate asked. Griff shook his head.  
"I was pretty out of it by the time I was thrown down there. The bald guy put the boots to me pretty bad." Nate sneered.  
"Big man, gang-beating a kid." He stood and walked for the door, Allegra went after him.  
"Nate, what are you thinking?" Nate stopped and stared down at the ground.  
"I'm going to find this guy and beat him within an inch of his life." Mac and Psymon also joined them now.  
"Nate, you know we can't let you do that." Psymon said firmly, Nate looked defeated.  
"Alone." Mac finished.

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Hmm, Nate, Psymon and Mac with the intention of beating the hell out of someone... that could really ruin a guy's day. Read on.  



	4. Chapter 4: Game On

I own nothing, all the characters and locations are exclusive property of EA Big... there did I say it right?

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Chapter 4: Game On  
The three men walked down the sidewalk along the main drag in Merqury city. They walked with a purpose towards The Silver Tap, a bar often frequented by XCL boarders. The men stopped at the door and looked at the bouncer. Mac walked forward and looked at the bouncer.  
"Excuse me, is Jurgan from the XCL in there?" The bouncer gave him a questioning look, then finally nodded. "Good, tell him I got something for him, and to meet me in the alley." The three men walked towards the alley behind the bar, Nate and Psymon stared down the bouncer, playing up the part of bodyguards.  
"Okay, now we just have to wait." Psymon spoke calmly as he leaned against the brick wall. "If Jurgan's still pumping drugs into his system, he'll think there's a dealer waiting for him back here." Nate cracked his knuckles.  
"I don't care, as long as I get first crack at him." The moments passed, then Jurgan rounded the corner with a trio of XCL boarders.  
"The hell is this?" Jurgan asked as soon as he recognized Mac and Psymon. Nate grabbed the large man and muscled him to the ground. Mac and Psymon jumped the other three. Marty, the former SSX boarder, was disposed of quickly by Mac and the odds were evened up. The other boarders were a pair of XCL rookies named Stan and T-Mo. Psymon pummeled Stan to the ground with stiff punches, and within seconds he was rolled up on the ground with his hands over his head. T-Mo pulled out a blade and swung it at Mac.  
"Oh damn! Psymon a little help man this guy ain't playing!" Mac yelped, jumping back from the knife. Nate slammed Jurgan off a wall and then forced him headfirst into a dumpster.  
"Big man eh? Beating down a kid? How do you like it, big man?" Nate lifted a knee into Jurgan's chest and beat him down with a clubbing arm. Psymon now was on T-Mo, fighting the knife away from him. Mac went to keep Stan restrained, but the fallen XCL boarder had grabbed a trashcan lid and brought it up into Mac's gut. Stan then smashed Psymon in the back of the head with the lid, knocking him down, clutching his head. Jurgan's boys ran to him and started working on Nate, punching him to the ground then putting the boots to him. Mac grabbed a board from a broken skid and ran to help his ally. Jurgan stuck out his fist and drilled Mac with a hard punch. Mac fell back and dropped the board. The three men quickly picked him up and threw him into the dumpster, but they held his legs out.  
"Quick!" Jurgan shouted through a broken nose. He held Mac's legs as Mac from the knees up was in the steel dumpster. Stan and T-Mo both reached up and grabbed the steel lid of the dumpster and pulled it down as hard as they could. The steel on steel crashed loudly, followed by Mac screaming and thrashing in pain. Psymon got back to his feet and jumped on top of Jurgan, the other two clubbed at his back. Psymon's hand squeezed Jurgan's throat from behind with a firm grip. Jurgan coughed and fell to his knees. Psymon released him and kicked him in the back of the head, crumpling him to the ground. Psymon now turned his attention to the other two. He landed a punch in T-Mo's face, but Stan scored with a punch in the stomach. Nate pulled himself up and yanked Stan from Psymon. He threw the smaller man down and began to stomp on him repeatedly.  
"Police! Nobody move!" a voice shouted into the alley as the spotlight on the squad car illuminated the alley. Psymon and Nate both looked up from their fallen enemies and into the bring light. Nate went to run but Psymon grabbed his arm.  
"Don't, it's better we don't run." Police officers came into the alley with handguns up.  
"Put your hands up where we can see them." Psymon and Nate both raised their hands, and seconds later were handcuffed in the back of a cop car. 

Rahzell paced in front of Psymon and Nate, who both stood in his office silently.  
"Well, I hope you two are happy." Rahzell began. "Mac has two broken legs and will be out for the rest of the season, Moby is suing us for the damages to HIS competitors and their hospital bills, and your bails are coming out of YOUR paycheques." Both men nodded without saying anything. "What the hell were you two trying to prove? You couldn't just let this stay a rivalry of athletes, you had to make it personal."  
"Sir, they attacked Griff first-"  
"Mr. Logan you will not speak until I'm done being pissed off at you." Rahzell said to Nate. Nate apologized. "SSX is losing enough talent as it is, and now one of our best men is on the shelf, not to mention the lawsuit money I have to give Moby will let him snatch up some new talent." Both men stared forward, Nate was sporting a dark black eye and Psymon's eyes were glazed over from his concussion. "Do you two know why I'm not firing you?" Both men said nothing. "Because I can't afford to lose any more names. You two chose a damn good time to get into trouble, I can't even afford to suspend you. But if I so much as hear you THINKING of a stunt like this again, I will release both of you without a second thought, clear?" Both men nodded. "Now get the hell out of my office." Both men walked out of the office and said nothing as they walked to the elevator. The silence continued as the floors counted down. Nate finally spoke up.  
"Figures the cops showed up once WE had THEM all down." Psymon didn't say anything. There were a few more seconds of silence. "I'll say honestly though, it felt damn good kicking Jurgan's ass." Now Psymon smirked and nodded.

"What were you thinking?" Allegra shouted at Nate, who sat back with an icepack on his eye."Babe, please, I've already gotten this from Rahzell." Allegra paced.  
"What if that were you that got their legs broken?" Allegra now said with a quiver in her voice.  
"I wish it was, Mac shouldn't have to pay for my mistake." Allegra sighed and crashed in the couch next to him. She gave him a cold shoulder for a few moments, then looked at him.  
"Besides your eye, you're not hurt are you?" Nate shook his head slowly.  
"Just a few bangs and cuts. I'm fine, just sore." Allegra cuddled up to him.  
"I was worried, you know." she said with a concerned voice, Nate nodded.  
"I'm sorry." They stayed quiet for a few more minutes.  
"So… I did hear that you guys really kicked their asses though." Nate chuckled and nodded. "Well, with the exception of Mac of course."  
"Nah, he held his own for a bit. He's not a scrapper anyways." Allegra nodded.  
"Well, Griff will appreciate what you guys did for him."

Psymon staggered into his lodge, rubbing his head. His head was aching terribly and his eyes had trouble focusing. His brain had been throbbing from the second that trashcan lid hit him in the head. A gentle ringing buzzed in his ears, but he managed to ignore it. He hobbled to his couch and pushed the button on his answering machine."Message one: Psymon, it's me. I heard on the news last night that you and the guys got into a fight. Are you okay? What were you thinking going after Jurgan? That guy's an animal. Look, call my cell as soon as you get this, I'm worried about you. I love you."  
"I'm fine Zoe." Psymon mumbled into the cushions of the couch.  
"Message two: Psymon, it's Kaori. You guys picked a fight with Jurgan and his crew! Do you have any idea what this will do to SSX?.. Look, call me later, I hope you're alright.  
Message three: Psy, it's me, Griff. Look man, Allegra told me what you guys did for me and, well, I just wanna say thanks. I don't thank you guys enough these days, so, thanks. Do you know when Mac will be getting out of the hospital? K, well, I should go I guess, hope you're not too banged up.  
End of messages." Psymon reached for the phone and dialed Zoe's cell number.  
"Psymon?" the voice answered on the first ring.  
"Yeah."  
"Oh my God I was so worried. Are you hurt? What happened? You're okay right?-"  
"I'm fine I'm just a little dinged up, don't worry about me." Zoe sighed loudly.  
"This from the guy who worried about me all my life." Psymon laughed lightly. "I'm glad I still make you laugh." Psymon closed his eyes as they spoke.  
"You do more than that." Zoe was quiet. "I'm fine, honest." Zoe still was quiet for a few seconds.  
"I want a full injury list, right now." Psymon sighed. "Now, Psymon."  
"It's nothing, just a few bumps and bruises… and a concussion." Psymon mumbled the last part.  
"A concussion! What the hell happened!" Psymon sighed.  
"I knew you were going to get pissed off at me."  
"I'm not pissed off at you I'm SCARED for you, what happened?"  
"… I got hit in the back of the head with a trashcan lid." Zoe was silent. "It's okay to laugh, it's a little funny." Zoe chuckled a bit.  
"Well that doesn't mean you're in the clear." Psymon sighed, his head was spinning, but he kept his eyes closed anyways.  
"I love you, Zoe." Psymon said plainly. Zoe stuttered.  
"What brought that on?"  
"I've missed being able to tell you that whenever I wanted." Zoe sighed.  
"I love you to, you know that."  
"I know." The line was silent again. "You alright? Brody still borderline vegetable?" Zoe snickered.  
"Way to change the topic." Psymon smirked and stayed silent. "We're cool." Psymon smiled and nodded. "Psymon? Do you think we moved too fast?" He sighed and rubbed his head.  
"That's not my place to say, how do you feel?" Psymon could literally hear Zoe shrug.  
"I don't know… I guess so, I don't know."  
"It's been nearly a year, how long have you been thinking you rushed it?"  
"I don't know… all along I guess? I'm just not sure how we click in the long run, he's so calm and cool and mellowed and I'm-"  
"A spaz?"  
"I am not a spaz!" Zoe now laughed a little.  
"I know you're not, I'm teasing you."  
"Psymon… you wouldn't be disappointed in me if things didn't work out with Brody, would you?" Psymon now opened his eyes and looked down at the angel tattooed on his forearm.  
"Babe, nothing could ever make me disappointed in you, you know that. If things work out, I'm happy for you, but if things don't work you know there's a room here with all your crap still in it." Zoe laughed. "And on a selfish note, I've missed having you around." Zoe sniffed, Psymon could tell she was getting weepy.  
"I've missed being around. Look, Brody's home, can I talk to you later?"  
"Of course."  
"K, thanks."  
"If you need to talk at anytime don't hesitate to call, I mean it."  
"I know you do."  
"Love you."  
"You to." Psymon hung up the phone and rubbed his head, it still throbbed and he felt dizzy. He couldn't tell anyone about this, if Rahzell knew he would be unable to compete then Rahzell would more than have grounds to fire him. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the pain in his head.

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Sort of a long chapter, I know. I always get a little overboard with the chapters in which someone gets their ass kicked. Movin' along.  



	5. Chapter 5: Things just keep getting bett...

me owns nothing EA Big owns everything, we clear? Let's go.

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Chapter 5: Things just keep getting better  
The morning came, as did the afternoon. Psymon woke up and rubbed his eyes. His clock radio was blaring loudly, as was his usual wake up call. He looked at the time to see that his radio had been screaming at him for four hours.  
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." he grumbled as he realized he'd slept through his alarm, very unlike him. This left him only one hour to get to his race on peak two. He sat up and immediately felt dizzy. The vertigo forced him to teeter back onto his back in his bed. "Oh damn." He was a little concerned. He forced himself up and to his feet. The dizziness was unbearable, and he fell forward onto his hands and knees. He clutched his head, it screamed in agony. He opened his eyes to see multiple images on the room spinning. "Not good." he whispered to himself. He crawled to his nightstand and fumbled for the phone, but he couldn't grip the receiver. He grasped for his M-Comm and eventually got a weak grip on it. He pushed the emergency button on it and fell limp to the floor. The emergency button was to be used if a boarder ever got hurt on a peak and was unable to make it back to camp, but this was as good an emergency as any. The M-Comm would give out a signal to all the other M-Comms and the emergency team's console at their station, telling exactly where he was. The M-Comm beeped as the red light blinked on and off next to Psymon's body. 

He woke up staring at the ceiling of a hospital room."Geez, this is a sight I see way too much." The doctor stood from his chair.  
"Mr. Morgan, we really have to stop meeting like this." Psymon sighed and touched his head.  
"So what's the story, doc?"  
"Just want to get right down to business? Alright then, you have a bad concussion."  
"I know I do, I've had them before I know how they feel."  
"Well, this one's a lot more serious than the others you had, you actually ran a risk of dying in your sleep. This is serious, Mr. Morgan, you're going to be on the shelf for at least four months."  
"Hell with that." Psymon mumbled. "If I can't compete, Rahzell will can my ass."  
"I'd rather have you out for a few months instead of dead." Psymon moved his eyes to see Rahzell sitting at the end of the room. Kaori was asleep on a chair next to him. "You scared the hell out of us, Psymon."  
"Rahzell, I'm fine I can compete." The doctor rolled his eyes and left the room.  
"Psymon, X-rays show you took a very hard blunt hit in the back of the head. You're in no shape to walk let alone board." Psymon sighed and weakly hit the railing on his bed. "Psymon, take the few months off. Four months isn't that long." Psymon went to argue. "Don't argue with me Psymon, you're in enough hot water as it is." Psymon fell back in his bed, then immediately realized how painful even hitting his pillow was, and grimaced while he touched his head.

Nate and Allegra said nothing as they walked through the Merqury City park, enjoying the peacefulness of the night.  
"Four months." Allegra said quietly.  
"He's tough, he'll be back on those slops in a month." Nate was frustrated, the SSX numbers were dropping like flies, much to the anger of Rahzell. They stopped at the fountain and stared into the water, Allegra went to Nate for a hug and they held each other quietly.  
"'ow cute." A thick British accent interrupted the moment. The couple turned around to see Moby slowly walking towards them, a large group followed him. "So I 'ear ol' Psymon is on the shelf a bit is 'e?" Nate pulled Allegra behind him as Moby approached with a large entourage of XCL boarders.  
"The hell do you want Moby?" Nate sneered, he wanted nothing more than to knock Moby's head off right then and there, but there was a lot of them and he couldn't endanger Allegra.  
"Just wanted to talk, that's all. I 'ear there's a new skiing division of SSX, 'ow's that going for ya?" Nate said nothing. Jurgan stood behind Moby with a small guard over his nose. Jurgan's boys stood behind him, and a trio of other XCL boarders were with them, two girls named Sandra and Jess and a guy named Tom. Allegra felt nervous as the group slowly circled around them, she looked frantically but the park seemed empty this time of night. Nate kept her behind him, ready for the very real chance that he would get his ass kicked this night. Allegra put her hands over Nate's ears from behind and blew as hard as she could into a whistle she kept in her purse. Seconds later a pair of officers came running from the streets. Moby's boarders went to run. "Be cool be cool you 'aven't DONE anythin'!" Moby shouted firmly at his crew, making them stop and try to be calm. The police slowed to a jog as they approached the mob.  
"What's going on here?" one officer said sternly, Moby raised his hands.  
"Officer we were just going out for a stroll and this tart went and blew 'er whistle." The officer nodded.  
"Right, a stroll. And I'm going to guess you were just walking laps around these two right?" Moby raised an eyebrow.  
"So a black man can't be out with 'is friends without intending to 'urt someone?" The officer shook his head and scowled.  
"Just get out of here, the lot of you." Moby nodded while sticking out his chin and waved for his crew to follow him. As they walked into the night, the officers turned back to Nate and Allegra. "Mr. Logan, we just keep running into each other." Nate sighed. Allegra stepped forward.  
"They were going to hurt us, can you drive us back to Big Mountain please?" The officer raised an eyebrow.  
"You snowboarders, you think the world is your personal chauffeur and service." Allegra got in the officer's face.  
"Yeah, 'to serve and protect', my ass!" The officer sighed.  
"Alright alright." He lifted his radio. "Officer fourteen at city park, we require one squad car." A voice squawked back from the other end.  
"Do you need support?"  
"Nope, but make sure the officer's wearing a nice chauffeur's hat. We need a pair of superstars driven back to their homes." Nate rolled his eyes but knew it would be best he just kept his mouth shut.

The car pulled out of their driveway as the couple walked up the stairs to their cabin."Well, at least this time I wasn't in handcuffs." Nate joked, Allegra raised a curious eyebrow.  
"They haven't driven far, I could run back and ask them." Nate stopped and gave her a burning glare, she laughed it off. He held open the door for her, and as she walked by he grabbed the waistline at the back of her jeans and pulled her right off the ground with one hand. He held her up for a few seconds and bounced her, then let her down. "… I hate you." She said with an exasperated laugh as she walked bow-legged to her room, not being too shy to try and remove her wedgie while he was still there. Nate walked to their answering machine and pushed the 'new' button.  
"Message one: Good luck in your race tomorrow, big man.  
End of messages." Nate's eyes narrowed from Moby's voice. Allegra came back into the room in a cashmere bathrobe. She hugged him from behind and ran her hands along his chest.  
"Can't get me now, I'm not wearing anything." Nate nodded quietly, usually he was more interested in a comment like that. "What's wrong?" Nate reached out and pushed the button.  
"Message one: Good luck in your race tomorrow, big man.  
End of messages." Allegra stared down at the answering machine blankly.  
"Moby's going to do something tomorrow during your race." Nate nodded.  
"Yup."

* * *

oooh, the suspense! The drama! The extremely cheesy cliche of ending a chapter on a plot device, riviting! There will be more! Read on.  



	6. Chapter 6: First Blood

EA Games Big owns it all I got nothing  
Language warning for this chapter, there WILL be an F-Bomb and others, you have been warned.

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Chapter 6: First Blood  
Nate leaned against the railing, waiting for his race that would be after the skiers finished their first race. Viggo had dominated the opening race, as expected, but a few stragglers were still finishing up. Nate's M-Comm stopped playing music to be interrupted by Atomika.  
"This just in you SSX animals. Turns out that Moby's X-tremely Crappy Losers has stolen our idea and is debuting their skiing division next week. All I have to say is; Moby, you're not in SSX anymore, you're not, accept it! You're gone! Bye bye! Get your own ideas, and while your at it get some better hair, you look like freaking Madusa!" Nate chuckled as Atomika continued into one of his infamous rants. The horn rang for the boarders to line up for their race. Nate eyed the stands cautiously, wondering what Moby had in mind. He dropped his board and buckled his boots in. The countdown rang out and the gates flew open. Nate started the race, he fell back in the positions as he was too distracted by Moby's haunting message the previous night. He suddenly heard the forfeit horn blare out, echoing through the mountain, signaling something had happened to make the race a no contest. He looked to his side to see Jurgan and Marty running from the stands and straight at him.  
"Oh bring it on." Nate said as he kicked off his board. Fists were thrown immediately as Nate handled both men with little difficulty. Stan and T-Mo jumped him from behind, obviously having come from the opposite stands. The four men put the boots to Nate once he was down. Nate swung his fists while he was down, no one could come to his aid as almost all the SSX boarders were on the shelf, and the rookies he was racing were likely at the bottom of the hill by now. The crowd voiced their displeasure with loud "bullshit" and "Jurgan sucks" chants. The beating went on for several minutes until the fans exploded into a loud roar. Psymon shot up the run in a snowmobile and bowled over T-Mo and Stan. He hopped off and introduced a pipe he brought with him. He clocked Stan with it, hoping to return the favour of the concussion. Psymon still moved sluggishly and almost looked drunk as he fought to keep his balance, but his pipe made him a little less appealing to attack. Marty punched at him but was beat down quickly. He wound up and smashed the pipe off Jurgan's back, staggering the big man. Psymon kicked out Jurgan's knees and raised the pipe high in the air while staggering a circle around Jurgan. The SSX fans ate it up, Psymon pointed the pipe at T-Mo, he stood up slowly, realizing he was in trouble. The SSX fans roared even louder as Psymon pointed with the pipe. T-Mo turned around to run away, but ran right into Nate, who tackled him so hard that he lifted T-Mo off the ground and slammed him into a support beam of one of the large billboards along the run. Psymon staggered over to Nate and the two men slammed their hands together and raised one another's held hands. The SSX fans were deafening as their heroes stood over the fallen XCL boarders.  
"They so think this is an act." Nate coughed through heavy breaths. Psymon chuckled, his eyes still glazed and unfocused.

Rahzell paced before Nate and Psymon once again in his office.  
"So, you both swear up and down that you no idea that this was going to happen?" Psymon shook his head.  
"Rahzell, if I knew they would be here I would have been up that hill a hell of a lot sooner."  
"Psymon, you shouldn't be on the hills period, you know that. What if your concussion was worsened?"  
"I couldn't let them injure Nate, he would have done the same for me." Rahzell sighed and nodded.  
"I know. Nate you knew nothing of this?" Nate nodded slowly.  
"Moby did leave a message on my machine last night."  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I thought he was bluffing." Rahzell stood in Nate's face.  
"Let me remind you, since this was before your time. The last person in SSX to think someone was bluffing was Jurgan, and we both know how that ended." Nate nodded.  
"Yes sir, I apologize, it won't happen again." Atomika walked into the office.  
"Chief, I got the news back. Stan is out for the season with a killer concussion."  
"Puss." Psymon smirked.  
"T-Mo hyper-extended his shoulder from that tackle, Marty seems uninjured, he's as big a coward as he ever was, and Jurgan's nose was re-injured plus he has a ruptured disk in his back."  
"Oh damn." Nate chuckled quietly, making eye contact with Psymon. Both men chuckled under their breath.  
"But that guy's insane, he's taking no time off. Now, our lawyer says that since Moby's men trespassed on our property and attacked our men first, he doesn't have a leg to stand on, he can't sue us." Rahzell smiled ear to ear.  
"Finally some good news." Rahzell dismissed his boarders. Seconds later Viggo came in, his SSX contract in hand. "Viggo, glad you came by. Your contract is about up for renewal isn't it? I guess you're going to want to negotiate more money now that you'll be our top skier?" Viggo slammed the contract on the desk, "shove it" was written across it in red marker.  
"Hell with you Rahzell, Moby just made me an offer I KNOW you clowns would never give me. See you later, losers." Viggo flipped his contract at Rahzell and walked out, leaving Rahzell and Atomika slackjawed.  
"He… he just jumped ship!" Atomika said, bewildered, Rahzell collapsed in his chair and put his head in his hands. "Rahzell, this is bad, this is really bad."  
"Atomika." Rahzell started. "Put that in a memo and file it under 'shit I already know'!" Atomika backed off and stood quietly. 

The boarders sat around the table in the lodge as Elise brought them to order."Okay." Elise started. "Those jackoffs have gone too far, they want a fight, we'll give them a fight. They want to run in on OUR races, I say we strike back! Now what we'll do is-"  
"We'll do nothing." Psymon interrupted, barely keeping himself awake.  
"Excuse me?" Elise asked, insulted that she was interrupted. Nate leaned foreward.  
"Moby can't do a damn thing to us 'cuz we were attacked on our property during our show, that puts all the cards in our hands. If we pull that same stunt, not only will they be READY for it, but that will give them a chance to sue us. We heard Rahzell talking about this today." The crew slowly agreed. Eddie leaned forward.  
"Yeah, plus Psymon still looks like he's in no shape to fight." Psymon waved it off.  
"Those clowns set a foot on this mountain, I'll be able to take 'em." Kaori now spoke up.  
"You are doing nothing! You're going to recoup that concussion THEN we can worry about it!"  
"People!" Allegra shouted. "Can we get back to business, please?" Psymon looked at her.  
"Thank you, Allegra." Elise stared at her crew.  
"So that's it? We're just going to sit back and let ourselves be attacked?"  
"What's this 'we' crap?" Griff scowled. "You haven't been effected by this in the least, it's us guys and Allegra that have been put in the barrel here."  
"So far." Elise said firmly. "I'm not going to wait around to get attacked."  
"Then why don't you do what Viggo did, princess?" Allegra gave with full attitude. "Why don't ya just abandon the ship like a rat before it sinks?" The crew all started speaking at once.  
"Shut up!" Psymon finally grumbled loudly, deathly silencing them all. "I have a fucking headache. Just shut the hell up, honestly you're like children. Rahzell will not allow an attack like that again I'm sure. Security will be upped at our venues, and I'm sure especially televised events. Just keep going out there, earn your paycheque, and do your God damned job." No one spoke. "Anyone want to argue?" he threw out the open challenge, still no one spoke. Psymon had difficulty forcing himself up to walk away. "Great, meeting adjourned, I'm going home to get some God damned sleep."

* * *

I'm also sorry folks that I have officially turned Rahzell into Samuel L. Jackson, but hey I think that would be pretty cool, Sammy don't take no crap from no one. And agan sorry if anyone's offended by the language, I just thought it would express the stress and tension well, and plus you were warned, so if ya don't like it, too bad :p  
Keep on reading folks  



	7. Chapter 7: What if

I've not come into enough money to buy SSX in the last 24 hours, so EA Games BIG still owns all characters and locations... for now...

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Chapter 7: What if...  
"Psymon, wait up." Kaori called after him as he slowly staggered towards his lodge. "Wait." She repeated, catching up to him. "If you think I'm leaving you alone again after the other night you're dreaming. And don't say you're fine." Psymon shook his head.  
"Kaori you don't need to-"  
"I don't care if I need to or not I'm staying with you. Do you think Zoe would want you being left alone in this state?"  
"I'm alright, it was just a bad night."  
"I'm staying with you." Kaori wouldn't change her mind, Psymon sighed.  
"I hope I'm not responsible for how stubborn you've become."  
"You had a hand in it." Psymon lost his footing and teetered for a bit, Kaori grabbed him. Psymon looked down at her.  
"… ice." Kaori kept her arm around his waist.  
"Sure it was, keep walking." They walked slowly towards Psymon's lodge and up the steps.  
"I thought you had a boyfriend. I don't think he'll be cool with you staying the night at my place."  
"Psymon, I'm keeping an eye on you, not screwing your brains out." Psymon looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she turned red and smacked his arm. "I'm not saying I wouldn't want to, but we're not." Psymon smirked as Kaori led him to the living room and laid him out on the couch. She rolled him onto his stomach and slid his shirt off. "Relax." she ordered. Psymon went limp as Kaori worked his back with hands that were surprisingly strong. "Dear Lord you're tense boy." Psymon raised his hands like a shrug and let her keep going to work. There were many silent minutes until Kaori broke the silence. "Psymon, you still with me?" Psymon nodded.  
"eeeeyup." Kaori looked down at Psymon's muscular body, the chain tattoo that wrapped around him, and the angel on his forearm. She ran her fingertips along the scar where he had to have the word "Stark" removed from his tattoo. She ran her hands along he base of his hairline, so glad that he buzzed off the long fat spikes a few season ago and now let his hair grow back normally, though it was still quite short.  
"Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we never broke up?" Kaori said out of the blue. Psymon paused for several moments.  
"You'd be giving me this message with less clothes on?" Kaori laughed.  
"Seriously, do you ever think of what may have happened if we stayed together?" Psymon breathed in, raising Kaori a few inches, then exhaled deeply, letting her ride back down.  
"Are you asking me this out of real curiosity, or because I'm half naked and you're sitting on my ass?" She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I dunno, I guess at times I wonder what would have happened. But we've become such great friends, I just don't know if we could have that if we were still involved romantically, ya know?" Kaori nodded.  
"I know."  
"And the whole make-out buddies thing, that just wasn't something we should have been doing."  
"Okay you're two for two."  
"Besides, aren't you happy with your new guy? What's his name again, Pedro?" Kaori laughed.  
"Phil, but nice try. Yeah I guess we're cool." Psymon turned his head now to half look at her.  
"What's with you girls and 'we're cool'? Seriously, either things are good or they're not, 'we're cool' is about as indecisive as it gets." Kaori nodded. She worked his lower back, tugging his waist line down a bit.  
"… no underwear today?" she teased. Psymon was still for a few seconds.  
"Knew I forgot something today." 

Psymon was woken up that morning by Kaori shaking him gently. He mumbled and rubbed his head, his headache was less painful this morning."Did I sleep through the alarm again?" Kaori shook her head while she ran her hand along his chest.  
"We're still in the living room, there's no clock in here." Psymon opened his eyes to see the afternoon light pouring in through his window. He looked at the clock on the VCR to see it was past noon.  
"Why the sleep in?" he said, having difficulty keeping his eyes open.  
"You need the rest." Kaori answered, running a fingertip along his neck, she was laying half on him. He opened his eyes fully now and looked at Kaori.  
"… why are we naked?" Psymon sounded quite concerned about this, Kaori laughed and kept caressing his cheek.  
"Nothing happened, we just cuddled, I promise." Psymon laid his head back down and closed his eyes, still in a bit of pain.  
"Kaori you have a boyfriend."  
"Nothing happened."  
"We're naked on my couch after you spent the night, it doesn't matter what did or didn't happen." Kaori sighed and stood up, she looked down at Psymon, who still was covered from the waist down by a sheet.  
"Psymon, relax. We did nothing, you know I like the feeling of another body against mine, you know that's how I like to cuddle. We never had sex when we dated, we're not going to now, relax." Psymon sat up and eyed past her for a second.  
"Still, appearances are all people need." Kaori put her hands on her hips.  
"Psymon, no one's going to see us." Psymon nodded with a smirk and pointed with his thumb to the window to his right.  
"Oh, okay, well maybe someone oughta tell him that." Kaori looked over to see one of Griff's buddies with his face against the window, peering in. As soon as he saw that he was caught he took off running.  
"Damn it!" Kaori shrieked, diving into the sheet that Psymon laid under.

Psymon's balance seemed much better that morning, he was able to walk much longer before the dizziness set in. Kaori walked into the kitchen, dressed in a pair of track pants and a Tshirt she stole from Psymon's room. Psymon finished making some French toast and served a plate to Kaori. Little was said over breakfast, Kaori's face was still red from the peeping tom they had earlier.  
"Oh relax, you did the kid a favour." Psymon chuckled, Kaori looked up, flabbergasted. "Seriously, what the kid saw today will likely go down in his memories forever since you're likely the best naked woman he'll ever see." Kaori went a darker red, trying to glare angrily at Psymon but smiling too much.  
"So I look good naked, do I?" Psymon chuckled and shook his head.  
"I've already told you that." Kaori ginned.  
"Well, you seemed against it this morning."  
"I was against it because you have a boyfriend."  
"I told you, nothing happened."  
"Shall we go over this again?"  
"… no." Kaori quietly finished her French toast. "So, you don't think less of me, do you?" Psymon shook his head.

"Kaori, it takes a certain level of trust to wake up next to someone undressed and still be comfortable enough with them to sit and talk over breakfast. If we weren't cool you woulda been out that door in a shot.""You said it."  
"Said what?"  
"You said 'we're cool'. Last night you complained how chicks always say that." Psymon smirked and nodded.  
"Dear God, I'm turning into a woman… dear God… I'm a lesbian." Kaori laughed loudly and threw her napkin at him. "No, I don't think less of you." Kaori smiled.  
"Okay, good." Psymon stood up and took her plate to the sink.  
"Kaori." he started, she looked at him. "Thanks."  
"For what?"  
"… just, for caring. For being a good friend… though at times a bit of a freak, a good friend no less." He looked over his shoulder with a smile as she went red again. "I'm going to admit, when we became friends I never imagined you had the side in you that you've shown me." Kaori gave a smart-alecked smirk at Psymon.  
"What can I say, you corrupted me." Psymon laughed as he washed the dishes.  
"Just thanks for being you." Kaori smiled. She stood up and walked behind him, slapping his butt. He brought his wet hands up to eye level with a challenging look, she stepped back.  
"You win." Psymon smirked and continued the dishes. "Do you ever think about that night when the avalanche hit?" Psymon rose his pierced eyebrow at her.  
"Do you EVER stop living in the past?" Kaori hopped up onto the counter and sat, dangling her legs.  
"The past is safer, it's predictable… at times."  
"What about the avalanche?"  
"When you came looking for me. We weren't friends back then, but you looked for me anyways. Mac wouldn't even look for me and you never gave up, why?" Psymon stopped, he never really wondered much himself.  
"I don't know, seemed like the right thing to do at the time."  
"You left everyone else, including Zoe, in a house with a killer to come find me."  
"Well, I would have brought Zoe with me, but somebody had to maintain order in that lodge." Psymon joked, Kaori looked serious though. "I don't know why I kept looking. When I got to that ravine I'll admit I felt close to giving up… I don't know."  
"But you didn't."  
"Kaori… you're someone's kid. Someone's sister, someone's friend, you were someone's lover… Too many people would have been heart-broken if you died."  
"That is the weakest answer ever, Psymon."  
"It's all I can offer, I don't have anything else." Kaori nodded.  
"If I was anyone else would you have still gone?" Psymon thought and nodded.  
"Well, unless it was Moby, then I may not have been so persistent." Kaori smiled at Psymon's joke.  
"What if it were Zoe that wound up where I was?"  
"Well obviously I would have gone after her."  
"What if she was in my situation, but died?" Psymon looked up and didn't move. "Would you had gone back to the lodge, or kept searching until that storm took you?" Psymon made no movements or sounds. Kaori realized she was out of line and apologized.  
"Look, that's not what happened, let's not even entertain that thought. What does any of this have to do with anything?" Kaori hopped down from the counter. Psymon stopped and calmed down. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, can we just drop it, please?" Kaori nodded to Psymon's words.

* * *

Yeah I know, fairly uneventful chapter, I just like painting Kaori with a portrayal that she's not the little sweetie everyone thinks she is... ah corrupting the innocent. Read on.  



	8. Chapter 8: Throwing down the Gauntlet

You know I own nothing.

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Chapter 8: Throwing down the Gauntlet  
Nate sneered at the television. Moby stood in a heated booth and looked into the camera.  
"Last week, my boys 'ad the guts to take on SSX 'ead on like men. 'ere we are several days later, and where are the SSX boarders? Nowhere. Ya know why? Because they're afraid of XCL. We've got the better talent, we've got the better slopes, all in all we just kick their ass!" Fans from outside the booth cheered loudly at the proclamation. "Simon Morgan and Nate Logan are brave enough to fight XCL boarders on their own turf, and with a pipe, might I add."  
"It was four on two you piece of trash!" Nate screamed at the television.  
"But no matter. I know both those men personally, and I know that they are nothing but spineless cowards." Nate went to stand.  
"Sit." Allegra said sharply.  
"So I'm throwing out a challenge to those two morons. Psymon, Nate, if either of you 'ave the balls to show up on my show, do it next week. Race me and let me show the 'ole world that XCL is 'ere to stay, while SSX is curling up and dying." Nate turned off the television, seconds later the phone rang.  
"Hello?"  
"Don't even think about it, Nate." Rahzell said firmly on the other end. "All they want is an SSX superstar on their show to boost ratings. Our ratings haven't been this high in years with this feud, we're not going to do them the same favour they're doing us. Their ratings were already high enough this week with fans thinking you guys would show up, let their momentum slide from the fan disappointment." 

The week passed, Psymon nor Nate accepted Moby's challenge. Ever week Moby would set aside a segment on XCL television to continue to challenge SSX, only to never be answered. The fans at first agreed that it was a smart business move to not fight back, but now fans of both sides were beginning to sway towards XCL as SSX began to appear cowardly. The attacks grew fewer in the coming weeks, though XCL was dominant in about half of their attacks, several times leaving the SSX boarders laying in a heap, defeated.Once Psymon was medically cleared to return and Griff's boys began to show some backup the attacks were rare, as XCL's winning streak with the fights took a large spiral down with the revitalized frontline. Kaori and Allegra were preparing for their race, a one on one dash down peak one, always a fan favorite; plus there was still just enough tension between the two of them regarding the situation with Mac a few years back to make them entertaining rivals to watch. Their race was going smoothly and they both showed great competitive spirit, until the now all too familiar sound of the forfeit horn rang. A pair of snowmobiles glided out of the woods and stopped in front of the ladies. Sandra and Jess from XCL dismounted their rides and tackled Allegra and Kaori to the ground. SSX fans had grown tired of this, as it seemed a race could never be finished anymore, and this was hurting SSX in the ratings. Allegra managed to get Jess off her and got to her feet. Where Jess would attack with slaps and pulls of clothing and hair, Allegra wasn't too worried to ball up a fist and drill Jess in the mouth. Jess clutched her mouth and her eyes watered. Jess was the XCL equivalent of Elise, charismatic, sexy, graceful and got the male ratings to skyrocket whenever she was on screen, but now she had a mouth full of blood. Allegra turned her attention to Sandra. Sandra on the other hand was like Moby's replacement for Zoe, the only difference was where Sandra simply looked badass, Zoe would have eaten her alive.  
"Hey bitch!" Allegra shouted, Sandra turned around to receive a straight right punch in the mouth. Sandra staggered backwards. Allegra reached out and grabbed the hoop in Sandra's nose and ripped it out. The stands all echoed "ooh" in relation to the pain that must have caused. Jess had taken off and Sandra was now all Allegra's. Allegra grabbed the suspenders on Sandra's cargo pants and pulled her towards her. Allegra lifted a knee into Sandra's gut, doubling over the rock chick. Allegra held Sandra in a full nelson any wrestler would have been proud of as Kaori got back to her feet. Kaori looked at the fans and a roar of applause echoed through the peak. Kaori wound up as hard as she could and struck with an open handed slap right across Sandra's face. The slap resonated loudly and the fans exploded. Allegra threw Sandra face-first into the snow and kicked some powder onto her back. The SSX ladies stood tall and proud as they acknowledged their fans. They shook hands, re-buckled their snowboards, and finished their race; the fans roared loudly the entire way down the peak.

The men all cheered and laughed while watching the television in the pub at the base of the mountain. High-fives all around expressed their pride in their ladies."Wait wait wait instant replay!" Eddie said loudly as he pointed, making sure everyone looked back at the screen. The replay had a nice, satisfying slow motion capture of Kaori's slap, the AV guys even dubbed in the sound of a bomb whistling and then exploding on impact. The women walked in to a loud reception and some of the guys started singing something about them kicking the XCL ladies' asses. Nate walked to Allegra and picked her up in a huge hug.  
"That was the greatest thing I've seen in forever." The men all offered to buy the women drinks and offered their approval of their actions until a sharp whistle silenced everyone. Elise and Marisol stood in the door of the pub and looked very pissed off.  
"Well I hope you're happy." Elise started a she walked towards the ladies. "Now those XCL tramps are going to be coming after all of us, including me and Marisol." Allegra slammed down what was by now her fourth beer and wiggled her fingers at Elise like she was worried. "This is serious you brat. Maybe it doesn't matter to you two since you're only second rate, but Marisol and I can't afford to get these faces banged up." The men all went "oooh" in unison, waiting for a fight to break out.  
"Heeey, catfight." someone murmured from the back of the crowd.  
"Well if it's too hot in the oven, get out of the kitchen, bitch." Allegra spurted, flipping Elise off. "If you're too scared to defend yourself, then go back to Canadaland." Some of the men looked a little questionable at Allerga now, as most of the roster was from Canada. "That wasn't a shot at Canada… I'm just drunk." Allegra admitted, holding up her drink. The men laughed as Elise sneered and walked out.  
"Let's go Marisol." Elise huffed, Marisol stopped.  
"No… allegra's got a point. I want to kick some as to!" The men again cheered and immediately were offering to buy her beers.  
"Take off your shirt!" Mac called from his wheelchair. Everyone paused and stared at him, he shrugged. "Was worth a try… no?.. you can't hurt me!"

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Ah poor Mac, the guy tries anyhow. So now the SSX ladies are ready to put up their dukes, this is going to get veeeery interesting.  



	9. Chapter 9: Going to War

I don't own any of the characters or locations of SSX, but I just made my last payment so I own my car now! In your FACE EA BIG!

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Chapter 9: Going to War  
Rahzell picked up his phone, wondering who could be calling this late on a Friday.  
"Hello?" he greeted, hoping it wasn't the police for a change.  
"Rahzell, it's John Banks of the WSA." The voice belonged to a high executive of the World Snowboarding Association. Though SSX and XCL were stand-alone companies, all brands had to be registered under the WSA. This bothered many promoters like Rahzell, as at times these bigwigs would just show up and change entire venues, some leagues had even gone out of business because of poor decisions by some of these execs.  
"Mr. Banks, how are you?"  
"No time for small talk Rahzell I'll cut straight to the point. Love what you and Moby are doing with this feud between your leagues, but seriously if you want it to work then you need to get your boarders on HIS show, makes good television."  
"… sir… these are not staged attacks. This is a real ongoing rivalry, if you need proof I have the police reports to prove it." The line was silent only for a moment.  
"Your leagues have been fighting like this and you never told us?"  
"Sir, I've Written, Emailed, Faxed and telephoned multiple times."  
"Irrelevant. Rahzell, we are sitting on a goldmine with this feud you've birthed, and we at the WSA have decided it's time to just let the competitors show who's really the best."  
"Sir?"  
"Rahzell, Moby has been already notified. Starting next week, Moby's XCL boarders will be a part of your broadcast, likewise your SSX boarders will be on his. We're hoping this tension will boost both ratings, get money in everyone's pockets and leave us all happier."  
"Sir, we both have had casualties in this feud as it is. Mac and Griff both have damaged legs. Nate and Psymon's police records have doubled in the last six months and my star attraction is threatening to walk out unless she's protected. Sir this is not a wise move-"  
"We decide what's wise and what's not, Rahzell, that's why we're the ones driving Rolls' while you don't." Rahzell sighed.  
"Yes sir, thank you." He hung up the phone and leaned against his hands on his desk.  
"Bad news boss?" Atomika asked, Rahzell nodded.  
"Atomika, gather the crew… I have no idea how I'm going to break this to them." 

There was a stunned silence over the SSX boarders as this reality sank in.  
"This is horsecrap." Eddie said gruffly. "You mean now those clowns will not only be allowed at our venues and to compete in our events, but that they have the RIGHT to attack us now?" Rahzell sighed and nodded.  
"Anything that happens as long as we're on the air is sanctioned by the WSA, we won't be able to do anything about it."  
"But that works both ways." Nate said, cracking his knuckles, Rahzell nodded.  
"Yes Nate, that runs both ways. Don't get too used to this, but you have my permission to beat down, maul, jump, mug, punk and kick the crap out of every XCL boarder that so much as looks at you funny." Nate grinned ear to ear.  
"You forgot slaughter, pummel, tenderize-"  
"Look, it best you not tell me what you have in mind, keeps me in less trouble." Psymon leaned forward from his chair.  
"So this means Paul Diamond is going to be on SSX television." Rahzel rolled his eyes.  
"Technically Mr. Morgan now it's SSXCL television… but yes, your hero Mr. Diamond will be on our broadcasts." Psymon didn't like Rahzell's tone, was it so wrong to admire a kid's skill, even if he was on the other side? "They're arriving on Monday morning people, I recommend you rest up this weekend; it may be the last good rest you get in a while."

Mac sat alone in the bar, sipping on his rye. He hated feeling so powerless, so useless. While the others were taking the fight to XCL, he was crippled on the sidelines. He looked up at the door to see Marty from XCL saunter in, Viggo was with him."Well well well look who we have here." Viggo began as he walked in a cocky fashion towards Mac. Mac pulled his M-Comm from his pocket and typed frantically under the table, still looking at Viggo. Jurgan and his usual crew of followers then entered.  
"You guys aren't supposed to be here until Monday." Mac said, trying to sound calm.  
"We don't start competing until Monday, we can arrive whenever the hell we plase." Viggo seemed more confident now, which one would suppose wouldn't be unusual when you have a human bull watching your back. Jurgan shoved Viggo out of the way and looked down at Mac with a cocky smile.  
"How are your legs?" Mac was staring up at Jurgan with a cold expression, while under the table he was hitting the 'send' button over and over, hoping his M-Comm wouldn't somehow stop working. Jurgan put his hand on the foot of one of Mac's casts and began to squeeze, Mac's eyes watered but he wouldn't scream.  
"What's next Jurgan, after you beat up a gimp are ya gonna roll some girlscouts for their cookies?" The XCL crew turned to see Nate, Psymon and Eddie walking towards the larger pack.  
"My problem's with him, not with you." Jurgan said, trying to scare the trio away. Psymon reached out and pulled Jurgan from Mac.  
"You got a problem with one of us, ya got a problem with all of us." Psymon snarled in the big man's face, grinning ferociously.  
"But I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, would ya Viggo?" Eddie said as he crossed his arms, infinitely more confident from the safety behind Nate and Psymon. Jurgan glared at Eddie.  
"Big words for a human Q-Tip." Nate now moved himself into Jurgan's face.  
"You want him, you have to get through us." Jurgan growled at them, T-Mo now came forward.  
"Yo you ain't got the cahonies to throw down with all of us in here dawg!" Nate looked at the shorter man.  
"I have no idea what in the hell you just said, but I'm going to assume you just called us out." T-Mo stuck out his chin and nodded a little.  
"You ain't got it in you, son." Nate now smiled.  
"I don't have it in me? I don't have it in me? Alright." Nate grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it on the table, turning the rounded bottle in a jagged weapon. "Hey look at that, now suddenly I have it in me. So how about we throw up now or whatever it is you ballers call it?"  
"The 'ell's going on in 'ere!" The thick British accent could only belong to one man.  
"Right on cue." Psymon mumbled to himself. They turned to see Rahzell and Moby both walking quickly towards the men.  
"Nate what in the hell are you doing?" Rahzell scolded, Nate looked around.  
"Oh, umm… I was just… umm… looking for the rest of this bottle… there's some… and some there… there's some pieces on the floor."  
"You guys set off right now, let's go ya wankers!" Moby shouted at his men, pointing at the door. "Save it for the slopes!" Jurgan looked down at Moby.  
"You can't be serious, Moby?"  
"I'm as serious as an 'eart attack!" Jurgan and his crew hesitated, then walked out with a silent protest. Moby cursed under his breath as his crew left the bar. He then turned to the SSX crew. "You wankers leave my boys alone!"  
"Hey." Rahzell now spoke up. "Moby, until Monday, this is still solely my property, and as such, I do not appreciate you telling my boys what to do."  
"Oh shove it, Rahzell." Moby spat back, Rahzell tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.  
"Shove it? Mr. Jones you may leave my establishment."  
"I'll leave once I've said my bit, now stow your cake-'ole or I'll-"  
"Mr. Jones are you familiar with the bylaws of restaurant and bar ownership?" Moby paused and gave Rahzell a confused look. "There's a law Mr. Jones that states that staff cannot touch a patron, unless he refuses to leave after being asked to do so, then the staff may use any required force." Moby took off his black sunglasses and looked even more confused at Rahzell. "Mr. Jones, you are neither a patron, nor have you left when I requested it of you, meet my staff." He extended his arms to Nate, Psymon and Eddie. "These are my new bouncers, I just hired them right now. Would you like to be their first customer?" Nate smiled savagely as the thought of tossing Moby out of this bar one more time made him excited. Moby put his sunglasses back on, cursed at the crew and walked out of the bar. There was a few seconds of silence as they stared at the door, then Nate put his arm around Rahzell.  
"Barkeep! Anything this man wants!"

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SSX and XCL on the same program? Crazy eh? What will happen? I'm not psychic but I'll say that the next chapters will answer that.  



	10. Chapter 10: Taking it Too Far

This one's a little long, but a lot of storyline is going to pick up in this chappy.  
EA BIG owns all characters and places

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Chapter 10: Taking it Too Far  
Monday came and soon SSX, and XCL were on a shared broadcast. Headaches became a very frequent thing for Rahzell and Moby as the weeks progressed. Some of the competitors co-existed just fine and simply wanted to compete, where the usual suspects always kept winding up in front of Rahzell or Moby. Some of the SSX and XCL boarders an skiers seemed to get along alright as they just wanted the thrill of competition and showed good sportsmanship, but these friendships would not fare long as the ongoing feud made the two leagues very combustible. Moby sighed as he was looking at the race results for the past month. Ratings didn't matter anymore as the merge had blown the popularity of both brands through the roof, but Moby's XCL wasn't getting the same results on the slopes. The men's division was fairly close, SSX was not ahead by much at all, as Paul Diamond almost single handedly kept getting the wins for XCL. The skiing division was all XCL, as Viggo owned the slopes that he had already grown used to as an SSX boarder. But their big weakness was the women's division. They couldn't touch SSX and it was frustrating Moby. Elise and Kaori kept racking up wins as Allegra and sometimes Marisol would do the dirty work on the slopes, giving the other women room to gain big leads. A young woman came into Moby's office and stood in front of her boss. This was Moby's secretary.  
"You called for me?" she asked while fiddling with several file folders.  
"Yes, did those papers from the bank arrive yet?" His secretary nodded and placed a folder on his desk. "Thanks, love." He dismissed her and read through the bank statement, frequently comparing it to another form on his desk. "This may damn near break me, but if this works it'll be the nail in Rahzell's coffin." Moby smiled contently to himself. 

The morning air was crisp as Eddie and Elise walked to their team race against Viggo and Jess."Okay." Elise said as they buckled their boots into their boards. "I'll take care of the little bombshell, I just need you to keep Viggo down." Eddie nodded, he knew that would be his role. All co-ed races had become that way, the men would play interference as the women would have cake runs to the finish line, sometimes setting impressive new records with no one able to interfere with them. Eddie and Elise glided to the starting line as Jess and Moby slid down the hillside towards them.  
"What the hell? I thought this was against Viggo?" Eddie seemed more nervous now, as he knew Moby was a much tougher customer than Viggo would have been.  
"Ladies and gentlemen." the announcer started. "Due to a last minute injury to Viggo, give it up for Moby Jones!" The XCL fans all cheered as it was always a treat for them to see Moby in action, as the SSX fans booed and hissed even more loudly. Elise went to a side official and screamed at him about that being "bullshit". The official reclaimed order and the racers lined up. Moby eyed Elise and Eddie.  
"Good luck kids." Moby taunted, both SSX boarders ignored him. The race started and immediately Moby reached out and grabbed Elise, pulling her down by her jacket with no difficulty.  
"Oh that's freaking great." Eddie thought to himself as Moby began to slide towards him. Eddie got low on his board to gain speed, he wouldn't be able to muscle Moby down so he had to think of something. He weaved through obstacles, Moby followed closely as he had hoped. Eddie jumped a rail right before it raised too high to hop, leaving Moby stuck on the other side of the bar. Eddie powered towards Jess and stiff-armed her down. As the XCL diva hit the snow, Elise re-joined the group with a large head of steam.  
"Eddie! Take his ass down!" Elise shouted as she pointed at Moby. Eddie grit his teeth and redirected towards Moby. The rail ended and Moby directed himself towards Elise again. Eddie gained his maximum speed and launched himself like a dart at Moby. His head slammed into Moby's abdomen and he took down Moby with a tackle that would make a football fan stand up cheering. Moby moaned as Eddie winded him. Eddie got up and followed Elise to the finish line. Elise was already celebrating her victory as Eddie crossed the line and kicked off his board. They celebrated as Jess and Moby slid in slowly. Moby kicked off his board and walked towards them quickly. Eddie, still feeling pretty good about his takedown, stood in front of Elise to protect her.  
"That was nothing but dumb luck, ya little buggah!" Moby screamed, pointing at Eddie. Eddie put out his arms like a shrug and laughed. Moby nodded. "Yeah, laugh it up 'airball." Eddie did. "Ya know, we 'ave a saying in England. 'e 'oo laughs last, laughs best." Eddie's face dropped in a confused look and then suddenly she felt a kick in the crotch from behind him. He doubled over and turned back to face Elise. As he turned around, the tall woman slapped him hard enough to knock him to the ground. The SSX fans boo-ed so loud it was deafening, Eddie couldn't even hear Elsie yelling at him over the boos. Even the fans that supported both brands booed this action. Elise then walked towards Moby and Jess and joined them in a group hug. Eddie looked up, heartbroken. It was no secret about his long time crush on Elise, and he knew they waited deliberately to make him the sacrificial lamb of her betrayal, dealing a second insult, but this one was a personal one to him. The boos turned quickly to thunderous cheers, causing the XCL and their new acquisition to turn around, then run quickly. Nate and Allegra rocketed onto the scene on a snowmobile. Moby, Elise and Jess retreated into the stands and ran through the crowds. Nate and Allegra hopped off the snowmobile and helped Eddie to his feet. Jess kept running as Moby and Elise stopped halfway through the crowd to trash talk. Moby raised Elise's hand and pointed at her, his taunts unable to be heard over the explosive roar of the crowd. Security swarmed around the pair as fans reached out to grab the XCL boarders. SSX fans yelled angrily at them as XCL fans patted their backs and called to them. The crowd grew even louder as suddenly Psymon, Kaori and Marisol jumped the pair from behind. Psymon and Moby brawled through the audience, who was electric with excitement as Kaori and Marisol overpowered Elise and dragged her kicking and screaming back to the winner's circle. They tossed her over the dividing wall and she fell on her back in the snow. Nate and Allegra now grabbed her to and they pulled her to Eddie and forced her down to her knees. The SSX fans were so loud they would have started an avalanche on a higher peak. Eddie looked around at the fans, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything with Elise in such a prone position. He then stopped walking away, bent down, scooped up a snowball and threw a perfect fastball right into Elise's face, repaying her for how she threw his feelings into his face. Elise shook her head to knock the snow off her face as Allegra hopped in front of her and slapped her so hard it was the only thing heard over the ear-splitting fans. Meanwhile security had broken up Psymon and Moby, dragging Moby out of the audience while the other security guards held Psymon against a dividing wall, keeping him stationary as Moby was removed. Psymon wiped a small trail of blood from the corner of his mouth and raised his hands, telling the security team that he'd back off. He hopped down off the dividing wall and joined his allies over Elise. Nate and Psymon both put Eddie up on their shoulders and the fans cheered and chanted "Eddie" as the XCL fans booed in protest. Marisol hopped onto the winner's platform and started an "SSX" chant as the XCL fans grew bloodthirsty. A few fights broke out in the stands but security quickly put an end to them.

That night the SSX boarders sat in their bar and watched the day's replay, cheering mostly at Eddie's snowball and Allegra's slap. Kaori hadn't joined them that evening as her boyfriend was visiting her, and Griff's clique were under age, but the rest of the crew were there. The party was mostly in Eddie's favour, as he had been through the most lately emotionally. First his housemate sold out, now the woman he cared about for so long not only turned her back on him, but had to add insult to injury. Marisol sat on his lap and proposed a toast to him, and the others didn't hesitate to accept. The hours drew out and it was time to start heading back to their lodges. Nate was taking Mac home and Psymon was walking a very inebriated Eddie back to his lodge. Marisol and Allegra stayed behind for the men to come back and walk them home later, but they both grew bored and decided that they would be fine. They stepped outside and headed in separate directions."See ya tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow." Marisol called back. She walked a few feet before a bunch of hands grabbed her and pulled her into the shadows of the alley beside the bar. She struggled with the three people that were holding her but the small latina was easily over-powered. They dragged her behind the bar and she could see in the light of the overhead lamp that Elise, Jess and Sandra had wasted no time teaming up and she would be their first victim. She struggled but her small frame was easily outmatched. Sandra punched her down and the three women kicked and stomped her while she was on the ground. She reached into her tight leather pants and frantically pushed the emergency button on her M-Comm as the other three women beat her.  
"Hold her." Elise ordered them as she removed her thick belt, gripping the diamond studded 'E' on the buckle. Sandra grabbed Marisol's arms while Sandra held her legs. Marisol squirmed to free herself but she made no progress. Elise reached down and ripped off a chunk of Marisol's shirt, exposing her bare back to the cold night air. Elise wound up with the belt and the loud slapping sound echoed through the alley, followed by Marisol's ear-shattering scream. "Shut her up!" Elise shouted as she whipped Marisol again. Sandra shoved her boot down into Marisol's face, pushing into her mouth.  
"Let her go!" a male voice shouted into the alley, quickly walking towards them, ready for a fight. Sandra and Jess both let go of Marisol as Psymon stepped into the light, a possessed look on his face. Elise whipped at him, but he raised his forearm and the loud crack echoed through the alley. Psymon grabbed the belt before she could pull it back and he easily yanked it out of her hand. Elise immediately raised her hands and backed off. Sandra jumped on Psymon's back and tried to choke him. Psymon reached back with one hand, grabbed her hair and whipped her over his shoulder hard to the ground, not once taking his eyes off Elise. Psymon threw the belt behind him, within reach of Marisol. Psymon lifted Sandra back to her feet and shoved her hard at the other two women. "Get out of here before I do something I regret." Psymon said coldly. Jess grabbed an empty vodka bottle from one of the bar's recycling bins and broke it against the wall, arming herself. Psymon still stared without as much as a blink. He took a step forward, Elise quickly shoved Jess at Psymon from behind and took off running with Sandra. Jess yelped and dropped the broken bottle as soon as Psymon clutched her wrist and held her up by it. He stared at her in the eyes for a few seconds with a glare that terrified her, he then snorted and released her wrist. He put up his hand and shoved her by the face down to the ground. She fell onto her backside, and quickly got to her feet and ran to catch up with Elise and Sandra. Psymon turned his attention to Marisol, who still grabbed at her welted bare back. He took his shirt off and slid it over her. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He helped her to her feet as she clutched desperately at his shoulders, sobbing from the pain in her back. Psymon and Marisol both looked down at Psymon's hip as his M-Comm went off again, another emergency call.

Allegra walked cautiously along the sidewalk, she was passing Griff's lodge, which meant she was nearly home. She looked down at her M-Comm as it beeped, signaling an emergency. She brought it up to her eyes to see better."Oh damn it, Marisol!" Before she could even turn, a large arm grabbed her and shoved her down to the ground. Her M-Comm flew out of her hand as the strong arms grabbed her. She was able to make out in the shadows that Jurgan was this man attacking her. She swung her fists as she was down, but even her hardest punches in the sides of his head didn't even phase him. He got over her and delivered a strong punch into her gut, stopping her offense instantly. She clutched her gut and curled up from the impact immediately. Jurgan got to his feet and soccer kicked her again in the gut. Allegra rolled into a ball, one arm still grasping her gut as the over covered her head. Jurgan kicked her several more times until an aluminum crutch struck him in the back of the head. Jurgan staggered forwards and grabbed his head with both hands, cursing loudly. Griff stood behind him with a bent crutch in his hands. He hobbled towards Jurgan and cracked him with the crutch again in the back of the head. Jurgan fell to one knee from the blow and Griff's crutch broke right in half from the force of the hit. Allegra crawled to her M-Comm and pushed the emergency button. "Sorry Marisol." She said as she kept hitting the button. Jurgan got to his feet and turned towards Griff.  
"Didn't like that huh? Now we're even!" Griff shouted as he quickly hobbled to his other crutch and held it up like a baseball bat. Allegra decided she'd hit the button enough times and got to her knees, digging through her shoulder bag. Jurgan stuck his hand out and caught the swing with the second crutch. He kicked Griff's cast and right hooked him in the side of the head. Griff crumpled right away from the hard blow. Allegra ran towards Jurgan and threw a snowball at the back of his head. Jurgan turned towards her just as she brought up her can of mace and let the spray fly. Jurgan dropped the crutch and shrieked as he clawed at his eyes. Allegra didn't let off with the spray one bit, even as Jurgan fell to his knees. Allegra sprayed the entire can into his face. She paused for a second and kicked him in the face, knocking him onto his back, she shook the can, causing a loud 'clack clack' sound then continued spraying Jurgan in the face. Jurgan got back to his knee again, but Griff was back to his feet and swung his undamaged crutch again, the impact echoed a loud "ping" through the crisp night air. Jurgan dropped onto his back and stared up blankly, Griff stoof over him and screamed an authoritive "yeah!" in his face. Nate had come into view, sprinting from down the street. As Nate grew closer he didn't slow down at all, and arrived with a full head of steam and a field goal kick into Jurgan's ribs. Jurgan shouted in pain as Allegra's mace ran empty and Nate mounted Jurgan, beginning to punch Jurgan in the face repeatedly. Rent-a-cops showed up seconds later to pull the men apart. Psymon and Marisol arrived seconds later, Marisol had been visibly attacked and her make up stained her cheeks from the sweat and tears she had no doubt shed during her attack. Psymon grabbed Nate and held him back as the security guards loaded Jurgan into their car, Griff talking trash to him the entire way and even through the window of the backseat once Jurgan was inside. Griff gave the window a light jab where Jurgan's face was and screamed some more at him. Nate and Psymon eyed each other and couldn't help but smile at this side of Griff they had never seen before.

Psymon held Marisol up as they walked through her door."I can't believe they planned that, two attacks at the same time, that was no coincidence." Psymon growled with a headshake as the small Latina held him tightly for both support and security. She clung to him in a sense almost of desperation, like the tighter she gripped him the more it relieved her pain.  
"Psymon, don't leave me alone here, please." she choked. Psymon nodded as he carried her to her living room and laid her on a couch.  
"Just let me use your phone for a sec." Marisol nodded as Psymon dialed quickly. "Kaori, it's Psymon. Look, Allegra and Marisol were both attacked tonight, have you seen ANYONE from XCL around your place? 'K, well keep your doors locked anyways. Look, I'm staying with Marisol tonight, would you feel safer with us? Oh yeah I forgot your boyfriend's down. Well if you feel you're in danger at all call emergency okay? Alright, I'll talk to ya later." Marisol laid on her stomach and rubbed her raw and sore back. "Hold on." Psymon said gently as he left the room.  
"What are you doing?" she asked, hearing him rummaging in the bathroom. He came back with a foot tub of liquid and two cloths. He lifted his shirt up her back ,exposing the welts on her back.  
"This is going to sting." he gently warned her. He felt her body tighten up as the solution was brought down onto her wounds. He gave her his free hand to squeeze, she did so until it was white. He carefully pressed the cloth on her back but was very delicate with her. He patted her back dry with his shirt that she still wore. "Sit up." he said. She grabbed him and used him as support to get vertical. He turned her to face him and brushed her hair out of her face with his fingers. "This is going to sting again." She nodded and bravely kept the pain in as Psymon again gently cleaned her wounds. Her face wasn't too bad, but she had several cuts and lumps from being kicked and stomped, her wounds would heal in a few days but she was still banged up enough that the male boarders would be very upset; that such a lovely woman had gone through that. He finished cleaning her cuts and patted them dry gently. Her eyes were still watery but she was being as brave as she could be.  
'Thank you." Marisol squeaked. Psymon laid her back down gently. She yelped as her back touched the couch, so they turned her onto her front. "You don't mind staying with me?" she asked, Psymon shook his head as he gathered the items to go back to the bathroom. He came back and pulled a blanket up over her. Once she was covered she squirmed a little under the blanket and dropped Psymon's shirt to the floor. "And thanks for that." She smiled a little, Psymon smiled back as he sat in the armchair next to her couch. Marisol again squiremd a little under the blanket and soon dropped her leather pants next to Psymon's shirt. "You don't mind, do you?" Psymon shook his head.  
"You're covered."  
"'K… thanks… they're just really tight and hard to get overly comfy in." Psymon smirked.  
"I'll take your word for it."  
"About?"  
"Them being uncomfortable to lay down in, I've not worn leather pants so I would have take your word for it." Marisol smiled and gave Psymon the once-over.  
"You could pull it off, but I thought you meant about them being tight. Psymon turned a little red.  
"Nah. I'll be honest, I think every guy knows how tight those pants are." Marisol smiled contently, her ego could use a little boost after that beating.  
"So you all look huh?" Marisol prodded. He knew Marisol had always been a big flirt so he didn't let himself feel too uncomfortable. Psymon shrugged and smirked.  
"I'll give ya credit, you're a beautiful woman." Marisol smiled, Psymon was a little surprised that she didn't blush, but he reminded himself that she likely heard that dayly.  
"Thank you." Psymon chuckled and got comfortable.  
"So if we're going to be up all night, we may as well find something to talk about." Marisol nodded and looked deep in thought.  
"Well, we never really got to know one another. I mean I knew you kinda as Stark, but Stark scared the hell out of me, and we've not really talked since then… you know since I was with Moby and all."  
"Yeah." Psymon smirked. "So, basically we're giving our life stories then?" Marisol looked at the clock on the wall.  
"We've got all night."

* * *

So, the SSX women's division is hurtin'. What will they do? What's Nate going to do once he gets his hands on Jurgan? And I hope Gothix is happy now that I made Griff kick a little ass for a change ;)  
Read on peoples.  



	11. Chapter 11: Sinking Ship

You know I own nothing, yet ue to legal stuff I have to inform you that:  
I do not own any of the events, locations, characters and so on that is used in this story, I'm sure somehow EA BIG even owns the storyline... jerks

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Chapter 11: Sinking Ship  
Rahzell shook his head in disappointment as he looked at the morning report. Griff's leg had been re-injured at the hands of Jurgan, and Allegra and Marisol would need a few days to recover from their injuries from their attacks. The only ray of light in the report for Rahzell was that Jurgan was badly injured during the backfired attack he made on Allegra, and that he was not only hurting, but was being fined heavily. Allegra walked into Rahzell's office and sat in a chair across from him. She was sporting a dark blackeye and had many bruises up her arms as well as a few small bumps and cuts in miscellaneous places.  
"Rahzell, the XCL women just threw down a challenge to the SSX women for a three on three race tonight." Rahzell shook his head.  
"No Allegra, you're hurt." Allegra sat back in her chair.  
"Rahzell, please, I need to do this. I want some payback for what they did to me and Marisol." Rahzell sighed, he knew he couldn't get out of this. XCL obviously wanted a three on three women's race because of the condition Allegra and Marisol were in, and if SSX declined they would lose fan support. "Marisol is in no shape to race, she can hardly walk right now with all her back pain, but I'm still good to go, and Kaori's in the shape of her life. Rahzell please let us do this, we can call in one of the rookie girls." Razhell sighed and nodded, shooing Allegra out of his office. 

Allegra hopped up and down while the gondola carried them up to the summit of peak two, keeping herself limber. She was pumped up and lusting for some revenge. Kaori was more relaxed, looking out the window as the setting sun stretched the shadows of the trees up the peak. She eyed their rookie and smiled with approval. The rookie's name was Sarah, one of the new kids in the SSX amateur circuit. Sarah stood just a little over five feet tall and was only sixteen years of age, but her amateur races were very impressive, and she looked very focused as she prepared for her first pro race."Nervous?" Kaori asked sweetly. Sarah shook her head and tried to look calm.  
"Nah, I've been ready for this all my life. After tonight they're gonna know who's the future of SSX." Allegra smirked, she liked Sarah's confidence and attitude, it reminded her a lot of herself when she was a teen.  
"So here's the plan, kiddo." Allegra started. "I'm going to tangle up with those tramps and keep them as busy as I can, you and Kaori just focus on crossing that finish line." Sarah nodded while pulled her toque onto her head.  
"That's fine, but I'm gonna tell ya now, if you can't handle those bitches I won't hesitate to take a few down for ya." Allegra laughed and nodded.  
"Alright, I'm gonna like you."

The gondola reached the summit and the ladies stepped out of their lift. Just as they were about to exit the station, the XCL women had arrived at the start gate and awaited the arrival of the SSX women. Elise was greeted by thunderous chants of "you sold out" and "slut", the latter chant was regarding a rumour going around that Elise joined Moby because there were more than professional relations going on, but that had not been proven yet. Sarah went to walk out of the tunnel of the station, but Allegra stopped her.  
"I'm gonna allow this." Allegra said smugly as the chants grew louder every moment. Elise was getting visibly angry now at the chants and Kaori made her way past the ladies.  
"Alright let's go, we've got a race to win." Sarah and Allegra followed Kaori out, Sarah looked at Allegra.  
"That was awesome." she giggled, Allegra raised her eyebrows and smirked. The fans now roared with approval as the SSX ladies rode their boards to the starting line. Sarah was very nervous now, doing amateur runs she maybe had a crowd of a hundred on a good day, this was the first time she'd ever ridden before thousands of spectators. She panned her eyes across the crowd, the SSX fans drowned out the XCL fans, which gave her an extra boost of confidence. The women lined up and the countdown began. As soon as the gates opened the women pushed off, Sarah fell behind the pack as the XCL women seemed to totally ignore her. Immediately Sandra and Allegra toppled over one another and they crashed into the snow. Sarah passed them and put her focus on Jess. She got down low to make herself more aerodynamic and eventually she managed to catch up. Sarah grabbed Jess' hood and yanked back, bringing the blonde down to the snow. She tried to keep up with Elise and Kaori but they were long gone. As she flew down the mountainside she saw a pair of bodies tumbling way down ahead of her. Kaori and Elise had tangled up and both wiped out. Sarah thought about stopping to keep Elise busy but Kaori waved her by.  
"Keep going!" she shouted, Sarah nodded and gained more speed. She didn't see another XCL woman for the rest of the race and soon she slid across the finish line in first. She jumped off her board and ran up onto the winner's platform. She jumped up with her fist in the air to show the roaring crowd how excited she was. She trembled, she'd won her first pro race and definitely had gained the interest of the officials.

Sarah sat with the other SSX boarders in one of the chalets on peak one, she was still excited by her win. Atomika came in with a letter in his hands."Bad news gang, during the race Allegra re-injured herself taking out Sandra and Jess. She won't be out for long but it's still a big hit to us." The crew was silent. "Now that I've shared that lovely news with you, I need to make a phone call. People, please, try not to add any more names to the injury list." The silence was maddening in the chalet as the news sank in. at this rate XCL would injure SSX out of business.  
"Ya know." Eddie started. "Just ONCE I'd like someone to come to us with GOOD news, wouldn't that be great?"  
"This is bad." Kaori said finally. "Allegra was the only woman tough enough to take on the XCL women without trouble." Psymon nodded, he stood up and put on his hoodie.  
"I've got to make a phone call."

Psymon kicked off his board as he still slid to his lodge. He ran up the stairs and into his lodge. He grabbed the phone and dialed quickly."Come on Zoe, pick up the phone." After a ring an automated voice came on.  
"The number you are trying to reach is not in service, please hang up and try again." Psymon looked confused, he didn't think he'd dialed wrong, but he hung up and re-dialed. "The number you are trying to reach is not in service-" Psymon hung up and tried again. "The number-"  
"Damn it!" Psymon shouted as he slammed down the phone. He paced and tried to think of any other way to get in touch with her. She handed in her M-Comm when she left SSX, so that was no longer an option, and her phoneline wasn't working or had been disconnected. "Come on Zoe where are you? You can take these chicks down." He kept pacing and thinking, but he couldn't come up with any way to contact Zoe. He thought more and rummaged through a list of phone numbers. "Brody's cell." he thought. He located the number and dialed.  
"Hey this is Brody you've gotten my cell but you don't have me. Leave a message." Psymon growled and hung up. He calmed down and called again, again getting the answering service.  
"Brody, it's Psymon. I need Zoe to call me immediately, please tell her I called, thanks." He hung up and thought more to himself. He hoped they weren't having trouble, if they couldn't afford to pay their phone bills then they must not be in good shape. Psymon's worry now shifted from the situation with XCL to Zoe and her well-being. "Come on Zoe if you need help just ask for it, damn it where are you?"

* * *

Psymon just can't leave well-enough alone can he? Heh yeah us brothers are pains in the butts. The new girl seems to be fitting in just fine, can things finally be looking up for SSX?  



	12. Chapter 12: Love Thy Enemy

I own nothing okay down to business.

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Chapter 12: Love Thy Enemy  
Psymon left Marisol's lodge and continued on his way to the chalet near the base of peak one. He had made her lodge a daily visit since the night of her attack, checking up on her, making sure she was doing alright. He had enjoyed getting to know her better; hearing about her stories of growing up in Columbia and then coming to America to make her fortune. He chuckled as he remembered her shyly admitting she started as an exotic dancer to get herself on her feet before her calling for snowboarding came, but that seemed to be a road several of the SSX women had to take at one time or another, so it didn't surprise him too much; it was easy money for a beautiful woman. He came to the chalet and fell backwards into a couch next to Sarah.  
"What's up kiddo?" he said as he stretched out his legs. She looked away from her Xbox for a second then back at it.  
"Not much, how are you?" Psymon yawned and covered his mouth.  
"Freaking tired, been trying to get a hold of Zoe but the girl's fallen off the face of the earth. I've left so many messages on Brody's answering machine it's ridiculous. If I don't hear from her tonight I'm going out to find her."  
"That wouldn't be wise." Rahzell's voice said firmly as he rounded the corner with a cup of coffee, seating himself across from the boarders. Psymon grimaced and told himself off in his head for not looking over his shoulder before he spoke. "Zoe's in trouble, Psymon?" Psymon shrugged and leaned forward.  
"I don't know, sir. Her phone line has been disconnected, I can't get a hold of her on Brody's cell phone… I'm just worried about her." Rahzell nodded as he took a loud sip of coffee.  
"You do that a lot." Psymon tried to keep his sneer to himself.  
"In all due respect, sir, she's all I have." Psymon's tone was quite firm and a hint disrespectful. Rahzell placed his coffee cup down on the table and also leaned forward.  
"Need I remind you, Mr. Morgan, that we are at war right now? I've lost too many SSX boarders to injuries as it is; I can't afford to have one of my top names, and like it or not, a locker room leader, turn his back and walk out on me. Right now we have to rely on these kids like Sarah more than anyone else, can you live with yourself turning your back on them and letting them down?" Psymon sighed and fell backwards again in a slouch in the couch.  
"No sir."  
"I promise you, we'll do whatever we can to help you find Zoe, but until XCL is out of my hair I need you here, plain and simple." Psymon looked at Rahzell's shiny shaved head and thought of the irony of XCL being in his hair. Rahzell stood up and took his coffee with him. "Just relax Psymon, Zoe and Brody can take care of themselves. You're needed here right now, too many people are counting on you." Psymon rolled his eyes and drummed his fingertips on his leg until Rahzell was out of the chalet. As soon as the door closed, Psymon shot out his foot and kicked over the coffee table, still sitting in the couch. He cursed quietly under his breath and remained calm. Sarah looked at him, a little startled.  
"Sorry, Sarah, that was wrong of me." Psymon sighed as he shook his head. He stood the coffee table back up and then returned to his slouch. Sarah kept looking at him. She then paused her game, put down the controller, slid over and put her arms around Psymon's waist.  
"You look like you need a hug." Psymon wiped one of his eyes with the back of his hand and put one arm around Sarah, he ruffled her hair with the hand that wiped his eye.  
"Thanks kiddo, means a lot to me." 

Nate took Allegra's bowl from her night table quietly, making sure not to wake her. She'd been ordered by doctors to stay on her back for at least two weeks as her legs and back were all very roughly banged up. He put her bowl in the dishwasher in the kitchen then walked back to her room. He stared down at her as she slept. He could kill Jurgan for how Allegra looked right now. Dark bruises and small cuts interfered with her usual good looks. Nate was feeling the stress of the situation, things were getting from bad to worse for the SSX crew. The only good news he'd heard in a while other than Jurgan being in rough shape was that Griff was back on his feet again and was starting to practice again on the beginner hills. Otherwise the SSX frontline consisted mainly of himself, Psymon, Kaori and Eddie. This was not a group to be taken lightly by any stretch, but they could only keep up with XCL for so long riding on just those four. Nate picked up the phone and dialed a few digits. He got Psymon's answering machine, so he tried his M-Comm.  
"Psymon you there?" he typed. A few seconds passed.  
"Hey." The M-Comm's screen lit up.  
"Wanna go bowling?" Today was their day off from racing as the WSA execs got themselves settled in at Big Mountain, so the boarders were restless.  
"Sure, I'll meet ya there. Call Eddie." Nate made a quick phone call to Eddie and then he was out the door.

Nate walked to his lane to see Eddie already lacing up his shoes. Psymon came a little late with one of the younger boarders behind him."Guys you remember Sarah, right?" She waved shyly at the older men. "Is it cool if she rolls with us?" Nate and Eddie both nodded and welcomed Sarah to the game.  
"Need someone to replace that assclown Viggo anyways." Nate smirked, the others laughed lightly. Eddie finished putting the names into the computer and then he looked up.  
"Hey guys, look at what we got here." He pointed cautiously to the arriving quartet of XCL boarders that were lacing up their shoes a few alleys down the way. Nate and Psymon scanned the four boarders. Psymon nodded to himself as Paul Diamond laughed with one of his friends and laced up his shoes. The other three were also younger boarders, ones that had given the SSX superstars no trouble besides strictly on the mountain in races. Nate stood up and stretched.  
"These pieces of trash think they can roll into our alley and start throwing? I think not." Nate began to walk towards their lane. Psymon got up and raised his hand.  
"Nate, just leave them, man. They're just a few kids wanting to have fun, they've done nothing to us." Nate shook his head.  
"It's the principal of the thing, dude." Nate came to Paul as the younger XCL boarder got the feel for the ball he picked up. Nate took the ball from his hand and tossed it down the gutter. "That weight seems a little out of your league, small fry." Psymon now walked to their lane.  
"Nate."  
"Why don't you and your girl scouts go on down to Little Lanes five pin down the road, and leave the big game to the men?"  
"Nate." Psymon was firm now. Paul raised his hands.  
"Look man, we just wanted to bowl. We're not looking for trouble." Nate got into Paul's face, the other three XCL kids stood up, not sure what to do to confront the much larger Nate.  
"You don't want trouble you shoulda stayed the hell off our mountain, out of our town, and sure as hell out of our alley!" Nate grabbed Paul's collar with his right hand.  
"Nate that's enough!" Psymon yelled now, bringing even more attention from the other lanes to them. "Calm down!" he shouted as he ripped Nate's hand from Paul's collar, tearing his shirt. Nate shouted something inarticulate and glared at Psymon. The four XCL boarders backed up as quick as they could. Nate breathed heavily as his temper was ready to blow at any second. "Calm. The hell. Down." Psymon said calmly and firmly. Nate nodded and walked back to their lane. Psymon walked over to Paul, who stepped back a bit and looking up as Psymon stood quite a height taller than him. "Sorry man, you alright?" Paul hesitated and looked at his friends, then looked back at Psymon and nodded.  
"Yeah, I'm good, thanks man. I didn't mean any trouble." Psymon shook his head and raised his hands to calm Paul down.  
"You did nothing wrong, Nate was out of line." Paul breathed a slight sigh of relief. "He's a good man, but he gets a little over-zealous." Paul nodded. Psymon looked at the other three kids, who still looked very uncomfortable with Psymon being present. "Look, can I make it up to you guys? Come on let me buy you some nachos and drinks." The XCL kids hesitated, but accepted. As they stood in line, Psymon assured them it was fine to order anything they wanted. The other three returned to their lane, Paul followed but stopped.  
"Mr. Stark?" Psymon paused and turned back to face Paul. "Thanks a lot, eh?" Psymon smiled.  
"You're a damn good boarder Paul, I hope to see you on the slopes some day." Paul smiled shyly. "Hopefully maybe someday as an SSX boarder." Paul now stopped smiling and nodded.  
"Well, thanks again." Psymon smiled.  
"And Paul." Paul turned around again as he walked to his friends. "It's Simon Morgan, and if you don't mind, just call me Psymon, lose this 'mister' crap." Paul smiled and raised his pop.

Nate looked up at Psymon with his eyes as he returned.  
"Getting a little buddy-buddy there, huh? You ain't thinking of jumping ship, are ya?" Psymon took a sip of his beer and raised an eyebrow at Nate.  
"Dude, you know I'm SSX, if anything we should be trying to win those kids over to OUR side. And even if they do stay XCL, they're good kids, they never get in our faces, and let's face it that Paul kid-"  
"I know I know, Paul Diamond is the future of snowboarding, I've heard you say it a million times." Psymon nodded and put his beer down.  
"And I still believe it."  
"Just take your damn turn." Psymon slowly stood and lifted his ball.  
"You don't trust me, do you?" he said as he looked down at Nate. Nate sighed and shook his head.  
"Nah man, I trust ya, it's just the stress talking." Psymon put out his fist.  
"Brothers?" Nate looked up and smacked his fist against Psymon's.  
"Brothers."

* * *

Tensions are running pretty high now, can the SSX boarders co-exist even with each other, or are they quickly falling apart? Read on.  



	13. Chapter 13: Secret Weapon

EA Big owns it all

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Chapter 13: Secret Weapon  
The SSX crew, or what was left of it, sat sleepily in the chalet at the base of peak one as Rahzell walked in, followed by Atomika. Rahzell held a form in his hand and slammed it down on a coffee table that the couches circled.  
"Well gang, Mr. Banks, in all his wisdom, has finally realized that this feud with XCL is getting out of hand and has declared in two weeks we're going to war." The drowsy boarders tried to listen closely. Psymon gave Sarah a gentle elbow in the side to wake her up. "In two weeks we're going on pay per view." A murmur came from the boarders, they had never even thought about SSX doing a pay per view event. "And at that event, we're going head to head with XCL, and the final match is a three on three race, XCL verses SSX, winner take all." Eddie raised his hand.  
"Sir? Winner take all?" Rahzell nodded with concern.  
"The winner gets all the marbles, the loser gets put out of business." Nate leaned forward.  
"That's bullshit."  
"Mr. Logan." Rahzell started. "On the level, I agree with you, but instead of cursing and complaining I want you people training your asses off." The entire roster now paid close attention. "We've had a hell of a run over the years, and damn it people I will not let what we've created be killed by these… people." There was a determined silence in the chalet. "I've already decided on who will represent us in the deciding race." Rahzell looked down at Psymon. "Mr. Morgan, you'll be leading our charge." he walked over to Nate and placed his hand on the big man's shoulder. "Nate, you're going to be watching his back at all costs, am I clear?" Nate nodded with a grim scowl on his face. "Kaori was to be our third choice, but we'll need her in our women's division race. Marisol and Allegra are both too roughed up to compete yet, so I will need time to make my final decision on who will race with you two." The crew all nodded. "Eddie and Kaori, both the men's and women's divisions are going to be having a 'protection' race. The winner of those races can not be released if their team goes under. This is your chance to keep your careers alive in case we do lose." Eddie and Kaori both nodded and mouthed their thanks to Rahzell.

Psymon and Nate sat quietly at the Silver Tap that evening. They looked around themselves and just tried to ease their minds about the pressure now on them. If they lost in two weeks time, they, and many others, would be out of a job.  
"Ya know." Nate started as he stirred his rye and coke. "Last time we were here, we were being arrested." Psymon chuckled as he remembered the night they jumped Jurgan and his boys outside that club.  
"Why'd ya bring that up?" Psymon asked as he stared down into his beer.  
"'Cuz it may be time to happen again." Psymon looked over his shoulder as Jurgan, Marty, Tom and T-Mo walked towards them.  
"Oh for the love of…" Psymon grumbled, turning his back to them.  
"So, drowning your sorrows already are we?" Jurgan said dryly as his boys cackled behind him. "I'm talking to you." Jurgan mentioned, Psymon motioned for Nate to ignore him. Jurgan grabbed Nate's arm and turned him to face him.  
"Stop it Jurgan!" Moby appeared out of nowhere. "Just drop it! I can't afford to have you morons getting your asses kicked again with this race coming up." Jurgan looked down at Moby and sneered.  
"I just wanted to soften them up." Jurgan snarled, Moby showed no intimidation.  
"You race for me, and I'm telling you no." Jurgan nodded, then dropped Moby with a right fist. Nate and Psymon both looked down in a momentary stunned silence as they tried to believe what they just saw. Nate and Psymon immediately left their seats and the four on two fight began. Nate smashed Psymon's beer bottle on the side of Jurgan's head, staggering the big man. Psymon dropped Marty and Tom with a punch each, then turned his focus on T-Mo. He grabbed the smaller man by the sleeves and threw him into a large speaker that sat on the outskirts of the dance floor. T-Mo tried to stagger away but Psymon followed him. Nate turned his attention to Marty and Tom as they tried to get on their feet. Jurgan punched Nate in the back of the head and the fight moved to the dance floor with Psymon and T-Mo. The numbers were in favour of XCL and it wasn't long before Nate was on the ground and Psymon was seated on the floor with his back against a large speaker, both men being kicked and stomped. Psymon looked up to see Jurgan get pulled back as Moby jumped on his back and pulled him away. Moby brought his knee up into Jurgan's gut, winding him. Jurgan pushed Moby away and then bent forward slightly to nurse his gut. Psymon pushed himself to his feet and took a few running steps towards Jurgan and brought up his leg in a perfect fieldgoal kick into Jurgan's face. The club-goers were now heavily into the fight and egged the combatants on. Moby and Psymon exchanged a quick look, then got the other three men off Nate. Once Nate was back to his feet the tide turned quickly. Moby jumped up onto the DJ's booth and ripped the microphone from its stand. He disconnected the cable and discarded the mic. He then coiled the cable a few times and whipped at the XCL boarders, catching Tom in the mouth. Nate noticed Jurgan slowly rising back to his feet and imitated Psymon's kick from earlier, actually kicking the larger man several inches. T-Mo and Marty took off running, and the trio allowed Tom to follow. Jurgan got to his feet and took off after his friends, leaving the SSX boarders and Moby standing tall. The club-goers cheered heartily for the impressive brawl they just witnessed. Moby dropped the cable and nodded to Nate and Psymon. "Thanks, mates." Moby spat out a small wad of blood. The lights of cop cars appeared through the windows. Moby tugged both men's sleeves. "I think we better make ourselves scarce, like now." 

Once Nate had hopped the fence he tried to catch up with Moby and Psymon, who still sprinted through the alleys. They emerged out the other end and quickly went into a casual walk, trying not to breathe too heavily."Well that was exciting." Psymon said softly, Moby smirked.  
"Just like old times." Psymon looked at him. "With Stark, I mean." Psymon nodded. Nate caught up with them and tried to look casual, he was too winded to speak and walk calmly at the same time. "So… I guess I've lost my league." Moby said with a sound of remorse. Psymon and Nate both said nothing. "I want those bastards to pay for their lack of gratitude." Still neither man spoke. "I'm going to talk to Rahzell tomorrow, I want back in." Nate stopped, Psymon did so also.  
"You think Rahzell's gonna welcome you back after you turned your back on us AND put us through all this? You're crazy." Moby turned around and nodded to Nate.  
"I don't blame you all for not trusting me, but I'm going to offer my services anyways. I Rahzell won't take me back, then I only 'ave myself to blame now, don't I?" He turned and kept walking, Psymon and Nat eyed each other suspiciously.

"That will make the ratings go even higher than we anticipated!" John Banks said to Rahzell with excitement, Moby sat at the table with them. "Think of it, Rahzell. SSX verses XCL, and the FOUNDER of XCL defecting to SSX, you can't buy that kind of publicity! I can see it now, what a headline, 'The Return of the SSX Misfits!'... do you feel that?.. That's electricity in the air gentlemen." Rahzell eyed Moby, then looked back at Banks."Mr. Bank in all due respect, I don't trust this man in the least, and you can not expect me to allow him to represent my team in the deciding race of all races." Banks leaned back in his chair.  
"Rahzell, I've already made it so, Moby is getting Nate's spot." Rahzell went to protest. "At Jurgan's request, I'm making a grudge race, Jurgan verses Nate, rulebook's out the window." Rahzell sat in a quiet anger. "That way we'll finally settle this rivalry those two have had brewing for months now, and not to mention those two will go to any lengths to take the other one out, it will make great television."  
"But sir-"  
"But nothing Rahzell, I'm putting my foot down. Moby will be Psymon's partner, just hurry up and get that third before I decide for you." Banks got up and left. Rahzell and Moby sat in silence for several seconds, then Rahzell leaned forward.  
"I don't like you." he started, Moby removed his sunglasses to give an unamused face. "I don't trust you, I don't believe you and I sure as hell don't want you racing for my team." Moby smirked.  
"You're out of luck, mate. Banks has made it so." Rahzell nodded.  
"That may be, but if you even THINK about screwing me, I swear Moby it will be the biggest mistake you ever make." Moby stood up and moved himself over Rahzell. Rahzell now stood and removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. Moby looked down, never realizing before that Rahzell was completely and totally ripped. "Mr. Jones, I wouldn't be able to keep some of the most out of control athletes in the world in line if I didn't have what it took to do it." Moby nodded and put his sunglasses back on and left the office. Rahzell put his shirt back on over his undershirt and buttoned it back up. "Punk." Rahzell's cell phone rang. "Hello?"  
"Rahzell." Atomika greeted. "You're 'appointment' just pulled into the driveway."

She killed the volume of her sound system as she turned the car off. She stepped into the snow and made her way to Rahzell's office. A quartet of male XCL teens stared at her as she walked by them. She paused and looked at them with no hint of impression."What?" she said coldly, the four men quickly made their way towards the road and let her by. She walked into the office and kicked the snow off her sneakers. She stopped in the front hall and looked at two signs with arrows, one pointing to the SSX office, the other pointing at the XCL office. She looked down from the signs and made her way to the hall. A pair of large men were hanging out in the hall, they were not familiar to her so she assumed they were XCL boarders. They noticed her and moved themselves so that their conversation took up the hallway. She continued to walk straight down the hallway. The man that stood in her way looked at her in the corner of his eye, wondering why she wasn't moving to the side to go around him. As she got close enough that her next step would have made her collide with him, he turned and looked down at her; the other man came beside him, both men staring down at her.  
"Where are you heading, little girl?" She looked up at them with a blistering stare, showing both larger men she was not in the least bit intimidated by them. After several seconds of staring down, the men moved to the side and let her by. "Feisty, I like that." the man called to her. She turned around to look back at them and her stare made them look away. She continued to Rahzell's office and let herself in. She sat across from Rahzell and leaned back in her chair.  
"Saw you in the security camera, quite a scowl you've got on you." He smirked as he spoke to her. Zoe snapped her gum and raised an eyebrow, also giving a fiendish smirk.  
"Got a reputation to protect, and I'll be damned if these idiots think married life has made me soft." Rahzell nodded.  
"Sorry about you and Brody." Zoe's face grew more serious.  
"Forget about it, now you said this was important." Rahzell nodded.  
"Alright then, we'll get straight down to business. I'm sure you've heard about the pay per view those morons at the WSA are organizing." Zoe nodded. "The last race of the event is for all the marbles, loser goes out of business. Originally Psymon and Nate needed a team mate, that's changed slightly now." Zoe snapped her gum and waited for Rahzell to continue. "Nate's in another race… and John Banks has put Psymon and Moby together." Zoe's eyes grew.  
"That's not right." Rahzell nodded.  
"Don't get me started, anyways. I want you to be the third in that race." Zoe sat up straight in her chair.  
"Why? Don't you have anyone else?"  
"Sadly no, and we need to have a female in that race who I know isn't too scared to take out Elise if need be." Zoe nodded and smirked to herself in content. "And plus, Psymon's been worried to hell about you, this will help him focus on this race, I can't afford to have his head not in this race." Zoe stopped nodding. She intended on seeing Psymon right away after this meeting, but she wasn't aware he was that concerned about her. "He says he tries to call you but that your phone's disconnected, and that Brody never returns his cell calls." Zoe sighed and felt a bit guilty. "So can we count on you?" Zoe nodded and stood.  
"Rahzell, you know I'm SSX through and through." They shook hands and Rahzell smiled ear to ear.  
"Excellent, now, go see your brother. He could use something good happening."

* * *

Zoe's back! Oh come on you all saw it coming.What's gonna happen? Is SSX going to go around full circle now that the Misfits are re-united, or is the SSX crew wise not to trust Moby? You know you wanna keep reading.  



	14. Chapter 14: Preshow jitters

EA Big owns all characters and locations, but they can't take my dignity!... no... wait... there it goes...

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Chapter 14: Pre-show jitters  
Zoe walked through the door of the lodge quietly, not wanting to let Psymon know she was home, if he was in. She quietly headed for the living room as she heard the television faintly. She stuck her head around the corner and see Psymon's feet up on the armrest of the sofa. She crept to the side of the sofa and looked down at him. He laid asleep wearing only a pair of black camo cargo pants. She turned off the television and made her way to his side. She knelt down and ran her fingertips along his scalp. In a lightning fast movement his arms shot up around her and pulled her in tightly. She yelped and then laughed, returning the tight hug.  
"Missed you to." she said softly, Psymon nodded.  
"You have no idea how much I've missed this." Zoe enjoyed the hug and neither of them spoke for several seconds, then Psymon eased up on her enough for her to sit on the sofa next to him. "Where have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you, Brody's not returning my calls, I-"  
"Brody and I… well… it didn't work." Psymon frowned.  
"Oh, princess." Psymon pulled her back in for a hug, then sat up next to her. "What happened?" Zoe sighed and shrugged.  
"I don't know. Like, I always liked how laid back and mellowed out he was, but it got to be ridiculous." Psymon nodded. "Like, every decision we ever made we had to 'consult Buddha'." She put her hands in the air and waved her fingers as she spoke in a mocking tone. "Like, even picking out drapes for God's sake. It just got to be too much, and we agreed it wasn't working, so… we called it all off." Psymon nodded.  
"I'm sorry babe. Are you alright?" Zoe nodded and made a strange face.  
"I'm fine, if anything I feel more free." Psymon smirked. "Sorry to keep you worried like that, I had to turn in my M-Comm when I left, and I deactivated my cell phone when Brody and I got married and-"  
"I'm just glad you're here and okay." Psymon interrupted. Zoe smiled and sighed a bit of relief. She looked down at his forearm and dragged her finger along the red-haired angel that was tattooed down.  
"This is new."  
"Yeah… I missed ya… needed something." Zoe looked up and smiled.  
"So, Rahzell has brought me up to speed. It's you, me and Moby in the last race." Psymon's face was cold.  
"Oh man, he's actually putting Moby on our team?" Zoe shrugged.  
"Apparently he had no say in it, that Banks guy made the decision." Psymon rubbed his head.  
"Well at least I'll have you there with me." 

Banks smiled ear to ear as he spoke to Rahzell on the phone."Are you serious? Zoe's back? Rahzell this is even better than I could have hoped! One night only, the Misfits are back together IN FULL to fight for SSX! Rahzell we're sitting on a goldmine, even if you DO go out of business you'll be set for life simply from the gross this event will get us. Pardon? No, no I meant nothing by that I just meant IF you lose. Yes I'm aware of Moby and Psymon's past together, but I don't think Moby would be stupid enough to turn on those two, and even if he DOES I'm pretty sure Psymon would be signed immediately by XCL even with their past, he's a money-generator. The others? I'm sure XCL will scoop up your bigger names, your lesser ones will probably have to pay their dues all over again, but that's business right? Hello? Hello? Rahzell?"

Psymon pushed himself harder every day that passed. With Zoe back he felt re-energized and had trained with more focus then ever before. It was the night before the event, and he tried to fight away his anxiety. He slid to a stop at the base of peak one and stopped his stopwatch."Summit of peak three to the base of peak one in six minutes, fourteen seconds, not bad." he thought to himself, not letting himself gloat at his new record-shattering.  
"Psymon!" he heard a young man call. He looked away from his watch as a young boarder skidded to a stop. Psymon nodded to Paul Diamond as the XCL boarder approached. "Man, you passed me up there, you were flying." Psymon smirked and shrugged, he had been going faster than he had ever moved in his life and must have completely missed it when he passed Paul. Paul looked a little nervous but pushed a smile. "You ride like that tomorrow and there's no way we can beat you." Psymon returned to a straight face and nodded politely.  
"Well." Psymon started. "If that's the case, just give me the word and I'll get Rahzell to write you up an SSX contract tonight if you want." Paul grimaced and looked around.  
"Thanks man, but you know I can't do that." Psymon gave Paul a pressing look. "I mean, if I jump ship, I'll be a sell out. XCL gave me a chance when no one else would, and I can't turn my back on them. Plus if I jump ship and then XCL wins, there's no way I can go back." Psymon nodded.  
"And if SSX wins?" Paul sighed and looked uncomfortable.  
"Well, if we lose, then I'll accept whatever future I'm given. If you guys want me, awesome, but if not, then that's the result of my choice and I'll have to accept it." Psymon smiled.  
"Kid, you're wise beyond your years." Paul smiled. "I admire that man, you're for real and you have a good head on your shoulders." Paul looked up at the peaks.  
"Thanks, Psymon."  
"What's wrong?"  
"I dunno man. You're so cool to me where some of the other SSX boarders aren't, and you encourage me, I guess I'm not used to it." Psymon nodded. "It just bums me out that we can get along so well tonight, but tomorrow we're going to be enemies." Psymon put his hands in his pockets and sighed.  
"We're enemies tonight." Paul looked up with a worried face. "But enemies can respect one another, and I have a lot of respect for you kid, on and off the track." Paul looked relieved again. "I really do hope someday we can no longer be enemies, whether it be in SSX or XCL." Paul nodded. Psymon put out his hand. Paul hesitated, but then took Psymon's hand and shook it. "Good luck tomorrow, kid." Paul nodded and looked over his shoulder. "I know, no one should see us together, people will talk." Psymon nodded and turned to walk away.  
"Psymon." Paul called, Psymon looked back. "Good luck man."

* * *

Next chapter is the last, it'll be long to, so grab a glass of lemonade and make yourself comfortable.  



	15. Chapter 15: Go Big or Go Home

This is it, the final chapter, hope you all have liked it. And EA BIG, you may own everything mentioned in this story, but you'll never take... our freedom!

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Chapter 15: Go Big or Go Home  
Nate huffed intensely as he stood at the starting gate, exchanging glares with Jurgan. This was the third race of the event. The opening race was the women's 'protection' race, which saw Kaori win by a landslide. Eddie's race did not go quite as well, and T-Mo now had the golden opportunity, that if XCL went out of business this day, he could join SSX if he wanted... and if he was stupid enough to put himself into that kind of environment. The horn blared and the big men shoved out of their gates. Instantly they started taking swings at one another, but both men held their balance. It was only a matter of time before Marty and Tom showed up on snowmobiles and started buzzing Nate. Nate remained as calm as he could, he knew that at this very moment Psymon was being taken to the top of peak three, so he was on his own. Another pair of snowmobiles reared onto the slope as Sandra and Jess now also tried to clip Nate. Jurgan fell back and laughed from a safe distance as Nate dodged the snowmobiles. The fans booed fiercely at the XCL antics but cheered every time Nate succeeded in dodging another pass from the snowmobiles. Nate saw in the corner of his eye a familiar woman speeding towards him on her snowboard. Allegra zoomed up alongside Sandra and powered her way onto the snowmobile. She hopped onto one of the skis and battled for control of the snowmobile. Eventually she managed to lean enough into the steering bars to direct Sandra into Jess, and both snowmobiles crashed together loudly. Allegra hopped off before impact and continued on her board like she had just finished a stunt from a movie. Nate laughed, impressed at Allegra's tenacity. Jurgan simply reached back the yanked her by the braids and she went down, stumbling into the out of bounds area. Nate still had to focus on the pair of snowmobiles that crossed in front of him repeatedly, while Jurgan took the occasional cheapshot when it was safe to do so. Nate fought with all he had to stay on his feet but he knew eventually he would have to go down. A loud cheer then echoed from Nate's right and he faced that way. Five small beings slid down the side of the mountain, coming from out of bounds. As they grew closer Nate smiled, thankful that his cavalry had come. Griff and his boys hopped the boundary fence on their boards and flew like a small flock of birds dive-bombing their prey. Jeff and Sam quickly occupied Tom and Marty's snowmobiles and wiped them out. Now it was Jurgan on his own against Nate, Griff and two other teens. The teens took turns scooping up snow and pelting Jurgan's bald head with snowballs, allowing Nate to catch his breath. Griff reached into his backpack that was unzipped on his back and pulled out a paintball gun. Griff got in nice and close to Jurgan and shot him several times in the butt. Jurgan yelped and put his attention on Griff, who laughed and fell back, out of the bigger man's reach. The other teen again pelted Jurgan with snowballs, taking his attention off Griff. Griff siezed the moment and again shot some point-blank paintballs into Jurgan. Jurgan was furious and Nate laughed his ass off. Jurgan was so pre-occupied with Griff and his clique that he didn't even see Nate slide out in front of him and sucker-punch him in the teeth. Jurgan slowed from the hit and Griff sailed out in front of him and emptied the rest of the paintball gun into Jurgan's face. The sharp and rapid pains made Jurgan finally teeter out of control and he slammed into a thick spruce tree. The fans 'ooh'ed in recoil from the impact as Nate rode the rest of the way down the mountain with Griff on his shoulder.

Zoe and Psymon dropped from the helicopter and landed softly in the deep snow at the summit of peak three. Zoe strapped on her board and gave a heaving sigh of concern.  
"Never ridden from peak to base, this is going to be tough. I totally should have gone with you when you practiced." Psymon smiled as he stood back up, helping his little sister to her feet.  
"Don't worry about it, you just get to the bottom, let Moby and me take care of the others." They rode a little ways to the starting area and met up with Moby. Neither of them felt completely comfortable with this alliance, but they had to listen to orders.  
"Glad you two finally decided to join me, was worried I'd 'afta take them all on by meself." Zoe rolled her eyes and said nothing.  
"Relax." Psymon started. "You know these clowns are going down." He then moved right into Moby's face. "And if you try ANYTHING out there to screw us... you know what? I don't even have a threat for what I'll do to you because I can't even think of _one _thing I would do to you, just a whole bunch of things." Moby sneered and Psymon backed off. Viggo, Elise and Paul arrived and lined up at the line. The misfits joined them and the pre-race rules were announced.  
"This race is from the summit of peak three to the base of peak one. The first rider to cross the finish line immediately wins for their entire team. We all know the stakes, so I don't need to remind you all how important this race is. Full body contact is allowed but there is to be no outside interference or the race will immediately be forfeit to the other team." Psymon exhaled loudly and he shook his head to clear his mind. The lights counted down and the gates flew open. All six boarders pushed out and were all off to a very fast start. Psymon and Paul made eye contact, and did not interfere with one another, if anything out of respect. Psymon slid over to Viggo and grabbed the fur-lined hood of his parka and threw him down onto his back in the snow, causing him to bounce and tumble through the snow. Psymon eyed the others to see how things were shaping up. Moby was close behind Zoe, and then he grabbed at her and tried to pull her down. Psymon's eyes narrowed, he was not surprised.  
"Saw that coming." Psymon snarled, targetting his eyes and lining up with Moby. He slid in behind Moby as Zoe struggled to stay on her feet. Psymon wound up with his right hand and delivered a stiff right hook to the back of Moby's head, causing him to release Zoe and drift near the out of bounds while he held his head. For the moment it was down to Zoe, Paul, Elise and Psymon in that order. Paul squeezed past Zoe, making sure not to make contact with her, Elise was not as polite. The tall diva shoved Zoe and the redhead nearly lost her balance.  
"Oh you bitch!" Zoe shouted, reaching out and grabbing the sleeve of Elise's jacket. Zoe grabbed with both hands and swung Elise around like a dosey-do. After that strong spin she released Elise's jacket and sent her roughly into the boundary fence. Psymon smirked as Elise flipped over the fence and bounced down the hill out of sight. Psymon and Zoe both sped up and tried to catch Paul, but he was moving too fast. The slope steepened and allowed them to pick up major speed. Zoe and Psymon both caught up to Paul and the three riders flew down the side of peak three. Psymon looked over his shoulder to see Moby was gaining on them. They all slid off the ledge that separated peak three from peak two, and after a seemingly endless free fall they all landed loudly in the snow at the summit of peak two. Several seconds down the run Moby caught up with Psymon and the two men tangled up. Psymon finally yanked Moby to the ground, sending himself down to. As both men thrashed and bounced down the hill, Viggo and Elise both passed them, Zoe was on her own against three other boarders. 

Zoe kept pushing herself, she was starting to slowly pass Paul, and he was being honourable enough to race clean. Elise and Viggo were in hot pursuit though, and she knew neither of them would be as fair. Viggo got within reach and grabbed at Zoe, again she was slowed up by someone tangling her up. She turned her head and headbutt Viggo in the nose. Viggo released with one hand and held his nose. Zoe balled up a fist and punched Viggo firmly in the crotch, removing his other hand from her. As soon as Viggo released her though, Elise reached out and managed to get a weak grip with one hand. Elise still seemed disoriented from her last tumble, and Zoe knew she could at least overpower Elise. Zoe grabbed Elise back, and with another controlled spin, she propelled Elise right over a ledge that led many feet down into a ravine, well out of bounds. Elise shrieked as she fell and slammed into the soft powder at the bottom of the ravine, there was no way she would be able to get back out in time to be a factor in this race anymore. Zoe narrowed her eyes and again tried to keep up with Paul, who was several feet ahead and was passing through the checkpoint that joined the base of peak two to the summit of peak one.

Psymon fought his way to his feet and tried to push off quickly, but Moby grabbed his ankle and forced him back down. Moby quickly got to his feet and sped away. Psymon got back on a vertical base and had a lot of ground to gain. He focused solely on keeping his balance and getting as much speed as possible.  
"I did this whole run in six minutes, I can catch up." he reminded himself. Several seconds later he flew past the checkpoint that announced he was now on peak one. The finish line was only minutes away, any impact he was to make had to happen now. He gained even more speed as he saw Moby nearing Zoe again. Zoe yelped as Moby grabbed her hair and tried to pull her down. Psymon couldn't take the smile off his face though as Zoe mouthed something and fired a back elbow right into Moby's face. Moby dropped immediately and slid to a stop on all fours. Psymon had to add insult to injury and he grinded Moby's back as he passed him. Psymon caught up with Zoe, but Paul was still a good distance ahead, and after the next turn would be the hundred and fifty yard slope to the finish line. The turn was still a good ways away, but Paul was still just far enough to be out of reach. "Do you trust me?" Psymon shouted over the sound of the wind rushing past them.  
"You know I do."  
"Then give me your hand." Zoe put out her hand and Psymon took it with both of his. Psymon started a controlled spin like how Zoe eliminated Elise earlier. Psymon didn't release after one spin and kept the controlled spin for three rotations. Psymon roared loudly as he released Zoe and hurled her with all his strength, the force literally made Psymon lose his balance and slam into the boundary fence, flying head over heels into a few spectators. Zoe yelped as she gained a very noticeable amount of speed from Psymon propelling her. She skidded along the surface of the snow for a few seconds then came back to earth, keeping her balance like she hadn't missed a day. She was going too fast to make the turn tightly, and Paul was already starting to make his wide turn. Zoe clenched her teeth and stuck out her arm. She felt her hand hit the pole that held up an SSX sign at the corner, marking it. She gripped it tightly with her one hand and felt her momentum shift violently into a tight turn. Her arm screamed in pain from the sudden impact, but she forced herself to keep control. She released the pole milliseconds later once she was pointed in the direction of the finish line. The slope was so steep and her momentum was so fierce that she literally free fell towards the line.

She flew past Paul only feet from the finish line and was still airborne as she sailed in at first place. She hit the ground roughly and wiped out, rolled and slammed into the winner's podium. She stared up at the sky as her back protested from the cold snow she was laying in. The roar of the crowd, combined with the cold of the snow, made her spine tingle. She'd done it, SSX had won. Paul stood awe-struck just past the finish line and fell backwards into the snow and sat there with his head on his knees. Psymon flew past the finish line and kicked off his board without even stopping. He ran clumsily as he regained his footing, running to his little sister. Zoe smiled and shot up to her feet and ran at him and jumped into him. Psymon caught her and held her up with a tight hug as the SSX fans exploded with roaring approval, the 'Zoe' chants were ear-splitting. Psymon hoisted Zoe up onto his shoulder and pointed up at her, Zoe laughed as the SSX fans thundered their respect to her. Psymon put Zoe down as the other SSX boarders rushed them and a pile-on was seconds away. Tears, hugs and laughter resounded through the SSX crew as they celebrated their victory. Psymon and Zoe looked over to see Moby had now crossed the line and was yelling at Paul as he still sat in the snow. Moby reached out and smacked the teen across the head.  
"Hold on." Zoe said seriously. She walked quickly towards Moby's back and shouted loudly at him. "Hey, asshole!" Moby turned to face Zoe just as she fired a lightning-fast kick in his crotch, with her snowboarding boots still on. He fell onto his back and Zoe stood over him, leaned forward, pointed down at him and appeared to be giving him the tongue-lashing of a lifetime; what she said could not be heard over the ovation of the fans. Once she was done her tell off, she reached down and slapped his face loudly. By this time Psymon had helped Paul to his feet and shook his hand.  
"I lost…" Paul started. "You guys earned that victory… just remember me, please." Psymon smiled and pulled Paul in for a friendly bearhug.  
"You did awesome kid. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Rahzell will have an SSX contract ready for you within the hour." Paul wiped a tear-filled eye and squeezed Psymon back.  
"Thanks man." Psymon pulled away and motioned with his head towards the SSX crew that celebrated still.  
"Come on, we've got a party to attend."

Paul trembled as he scribbled his name on the SSX contract. He smiled uncontrollably as he handed the contract back to Rahzell. Many handshakes, pats on the back and knuckle-hits welcomed Paul Diamond into the SSX family. Paul felt honoured, Rahzell had momentarily postponed the victory party so that everyone could be present for Paul's contract signing.  
"Here's to the future of SSX." Rahzell said with a beaming smile and a firm handshake. Paul still smiled and began to mingle with his now fellow SSX boarders. A cute teen girl came up to him and smiled shyly.  
"Hi." she said, taking a timed sip of her pop to make herself seem less nervous, Paul smiled.  
"Hi." Paul blushed a little as he spoke to this lovely young lady.  
"I'm Sarah." she blurted, clumsily putting out her hand. Paul smiled and took her hand.  
"I'm Paul."  
"I know." They both laughed nervously as they hit it off together.

"This IS incredible." Zoe said with a smile as she stood next to Psymon. They watched the sunset together at the summit of peak three. Zoe shivered a little as the cold night air rolled in. Psymon put his hoodie over her and put his arm around her shoulder. "Hard to believe last time we were here was just a few hours ago, we had no idea if we'd even be here by now." Psymon smiled, still looking at the sunset."Ya know, last time I did this was just a few days after you got married." Zoe shoved herself against him and they both chuckled.  
"Well, I don't think you have to worry about that happening again any time soon, being domestic was making me soft." Psymon looked down at her with a cocky smirk.  
"Oh please, we both know you're a big suck." Zoe raised stuck her tongue out at him.  
"You know that and I know that, no need for anyone else to know it." Psymon smiled and nodded.  
"Fine, deal." They both enjoyed the last few seconds of the sunset. "I'm glad your back. I'm sorry that you had to go through this crap, but I'm glad your back. I've missed you." Zoe sighed and put her arms around Psymon's waist, still looking out at the stretching forests and slopes below them, their shadows fro mthe setting sun reached for miles.  
"I'm glad I'm back to, I don't think I'm meant for the world out there."  
"They're not ready for ya?" Psymon joked, Zoe laughed.  
"Nah, I figure, why bother going into another world when everything you love is right here?" Psymon squeezed her shoulder.  
"So, the peak three sunset going to be added to that list?"  
"It's already near the top." Psymon looked down at his M-Comm.  
"We should get back to the party." Zoe nodded and let go of Psymon's waist. They both looked down the slopes that would lead them down the three peaks. After several seconds of silence, Psymon raised an eyebrow and gave a playful grin. "Wanna race?" Zoe looked deep in thought for a second.  
"Hmm... Fine." She shoved Psymon onto his butt in the snow and took off down the slope. "Go!" she shouted with a laugh, announcing the start of the race. Psymon laughed as he got to his feet.  
"Oh it's on, little girl."

* * *

It's over! So there ya have it folks, likely a very predictable ending, but if ya don't like it, too bad. Hope the story met your expectations Collision, thanks for all you support with my SSX stories. And to anyone else that read it, I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for taking the time to read my work. Irish Ninja out.  



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